The rings of confidence

Olympic logo_The rings of confidence

The Olympic motto is the hendiatris Citius, Altius, Fortius, which in plain English means “Faster, Higher, Stronger”. Most of us will also know that the five-ringed symbol “represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games.” What most of us need to know is that every sport carries with it a message for education. Well, I have interpreted a message for education right within the Olympics rings! I call my message the ‘rings of confidence!’

Sports isn’t just about hopping, skipping, jumping, and going out of home to spend time on the playfield. It is all about the secrets of learning. It is this secret that makes the Olympics rings seem so real.

In a recent meeting with our own shooting star Narang, I asked him what he would recommend to those who want to reach the top in sports. To my utter surprise he said that it was best to begin with reading the rules and putting them all to practice. Well, I sat down later and thought about this. ‘Quite true,’ I mumbled to myself, ‘let me see if I can add to this.’

The sequence that I created is:

Read to understand
Understand to practice
Practice to gain expertise
Apply expertise to win
Win with humility

When I showed this to my wife, she asked, ‘Will you need to explain each of these?’ Well, I don’t think it will be essential to explain any of the rules that I have jotted down for my readers who want to understand what education is all about. The rules are precise and self-explanatory.

Education does share a close bond with sports… and, therefore, looking towards the Olympics to do some inspired genetic bonding is quite reasonable. Each of the rules that I have created hides within it a lot more than is obvious at first glance. However, it is we who need to be perceptive enough to reach those hidden areas and discover them by ourselves. For instance, ‘apply expertise to win’ surely does not ask you to become an expert sycophant or use subterfuge and lies to pass an exam! I hope you’ve got a drift of what I am trying to say.

Just look at the world class sports-persons who are participating in Olympics 2012 and you’ll know that they have read their rules of the games, understood the finer nuances of their chosen sport, spent years practicing… and now they are out there using all their learnt skills to go home with a medal!