Politicians complain of rigged elections when they lose. Athletes complain of rigged games. Employees complain of a rigged system. All these complaints usually point to a manipulated system that is designed to favor only a few individuals, while it works against others. The complaints are based on either fact or perception.
Taking a break from thinking and talking about perceived injustices allows an individual to develop an objective view of events. It is this neutral mind that opens eyes to the beautiful lessons that come with setbacks. Appreciating these lessons plays a big role in future competitions.
Just your participation in the competition is enough confirmation and validation of your qualifications to move up. Appreciate that. Recognize that other applicants were disqualified during the shortlisting process because their qualifications were deemed inadequate. The acceptance of your application to compete was the organisation’s way of saying, “we have looked at your credentials and have found you worthy to compete for this next position. We will therefore subject you to an equal-opportunity situation where you will compete against other suitable candidates.”
A clear and sober mind will help you to appreciate the whole process and pinpoint exactly where you messed up. You slowly begin to respect the winners as you realize and accept that their win was well deserved, and on merit. This helps you to come back stronger as you formulate strategies that make you better prepared to face similar hurdles, while handling new challenges with confidence and grace.
The key to winning any race or competition is to never give up. You tried and failed the first time. Get up! This could be your second or fourth attempt. Get up and keep trying. Keep perfecting yourself. The universe is rigged to favour those who persevere even in the face of great adversity and failure. The world is full of athletes, politicians, authors, and many others who finally succeeded after a long spell of trying and not giving up. They identified little wins and celebrated them while strategizing on how to overcome newly identified hurdles. The right wind of “luck” blew their way, found them still in the game and carried them to their victory.
Truthfully speaking, everything is rigged in this world. Adequate preparation mixed with the right attitude towards anything, yields positive results while poor preparation yields bad results. It all depends on you. You hold the power to rig the game so that it works for you or against you.
The attitude you adopt after losing a competition is also rigged to put you in a position where you either develop a closed mind, full of complaints, or an open mind that learns from failures and builds on your successes.
