Self-belief can spur one to great heights

IT’S a mundane world for many who take life as it is, resigned to being an ordinary man on the street simply because there is no belief in oneself.

Belief in oneself is very important to progress in life. Together with perseverance, self-belief can move mountains.

Take the example of Sir Roger Bannister, the first person to run the mile in less than four minutes. Before he achieved this feat, it was thought of as impossible to break that psychological time barrier. Many thought that whoever attempted it would succumb to exhaustion and total collapse.

Despite the demands of his medical studies at Oxford University, Bannister used his medical knowledge to devise his own training regime and investigate the mechanical aspects of running.

On May 6, 1954, history was created when he ran the mile in three minutes 59.4 seconds. Self-belief did it for him.

Bannister was knighted in 1975. Gary Mabbutt, the Tottenham Hotspur captain in the 1980s, is another person whose self-belief led him to the heights of success.

Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a teenager, his desire to play football at the highest level was immense. He had to take insulin injections twice a day and blood tests frequently to keep his blood glucose level in check.

After being told by three medical specialists that a diabetes diagnosis would end his career, he said: “Everyone has problems and it’s how you deal with them that makes or breaks you.”

Mabbutt went on to represent Tottenham Hotspur from 1982 to 1998 and won 16 caps with England. He was awarded the MBE in 1993.

On the local front, I can still remember vividly the feat of Alex Delikan in 1964 while playing for an All-Malaya XI against a Commonwealth XI star-studded cast that included Garfield Sobers, the greatest all-round cricketer of all-time.

Sobers was, without doubt, the finest batsman in the world over the course of his career, and also the greatest stroke player. If he was not the greatest bowler, he was certainly the most versatile, whether taking the new ball (devastating pace bowling) or spinning the older ball either in an orthodox or unorthodox manner (the googly or Chinaman spin).

In the field, he could snap up half chances with consummate ease or cover ground like a greyhound in the outfield. Sobers was knighted in 1975.

Obviously, Delikan was unperturbed by the world-class cast he was going to have to bowl to. It all boiled down to self-belief that no matter who the batsman was, and of what reputation, if a perfect ball was bowled, it could get the batsman out.

In this memorable match, Delikan clean-bowled Sobers’ first ball, to the utter shock and dismay of the huge crowd of cricket enthusiasts who had come to witness his full repertoire of batting brilliance.

Delikan too should be considered a great all-rounder, as he excelled in both the cricket and medical fields. By profession, he was an anaesthesiologist, and he earned the designation Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Alex Delikan.

The meteoric rise of Lee Chong Wei from humble beginnings is worthy of mention too. He went through some rough patches along the way, but with proper guidance, self-belief and perseverance, he reached the pinnacle of world badminton. Lee Chong Wei received his Datukship in 2008.

M. Magendran and N. Mohandas braved treacherous conditions and punishing weather to successfully scale the summit of Mount Everest.

Pocket Rocketman Azizulhasni Awang’s exploits against opponents who were more superior in physique earned him the World Keirin Gold Medal in the prestigious 2017 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.

The defining factor in all of these individuals has to be self-belief, perseverance and willpower.

Magendran and Mohandas were awarded Datukship in 2017.

When Sudirman Haji Arshad (pic), who was my classmate in Form 6 in Kuantan, told us about his intention to take part in an RTM talent competition, we all scoffed at his idea. The rest is history.

Sudirman believed in himself and mesmerised audiences everywhere he performed. He was posthumously awarded the title of Datuk in 2009.

The trio of self-belief, perseverance and willpower is the triangular force needed to propel a person from nowhere to somewhere; from a nobody to a somebody; from a casual wage earner to an entrepreneur.

Mental strength is what matters most.