Meeting and spending time with the legend a few years ago was an honour and a pleasure. This venerable man has so much to teach us that a book would be needed to include it all. I’m not sure how many of you managed to catch “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” on television. It is an Indian biographical sports movie from 2013 that is based on the real life of “The Flying Sikh” Milkha Singh, an Olympian and national champion athlete.

Concentrate on your strengths and be brutally honest with yourself.

While engaging in regular exercise, Milkha builds on his strengths and combats his weaknesses. Instead of engaging in conflict with others, he concentrates on his objectives and work. The need for people to start to reverse the belief that they must focus their development around overcoming their weaknesses, spending valuable energy trying to try and repair these flaws, while their strengths lie dormant and neglected is highlighted in Marcus Buckingham’s excellent book, “Now Discover Your Strengths.” According to Buckingham, observing our spontaneous reactions will reveal our strengths (the behavior we revert too when we are put under stress).

Don’t try too hard to impress others.

Being genuine, giving to others, and modest with clients To everyone he encounters around the world, Milkha Singh maintains his simplicity, humility, and innocence. Regardless of their disagreements or allegiances, people all across the world respected him for who he was as a person. An ancient country song declares, “When you’re flawless in every aspect, it’s hard to be modest.” Of course, very few people truly believe they are faultless in every manner. But being humble can still be challenging, especially if you live in a culture that values competitiveness and uniqueness.

Accept faults and move over setbacks or defeats

In his first international competition (1956 Melbourne Olympics), Milkha Singh experienced defeat. He admitted his error of losing concentration throughout the race while engaging in personal pursuits, which cut into his practice time. Realizing that he needs to put in more preparation, he works harder than ever to win the next forthcoming events and break the 400-meter world record. Only until we acknowledge our error can we move past it and learn from it. We immediately isolate ourselves from any potential learning when we begin blaming others (or the universe itself) or developing compelling explanations for it, not to mention engaging in ongoing conflicts with others.

Stay tuned with IWMBuzz for more updates!