Thursday, December 10, 2009

Push or Pull


I was right there in the classroom yet lost in my own world, then suddenly a discussion took place which intruded ruthlessly into the dreams I was having.
The professor was talking about what motivates a person to perform better the "PULL" from within to excel OR the "PUSH" from the external world to perform one's best.

If you give it a thought, the obvious thing is that both are important, after all our personalities are a reflection of both the environment in which we are brought up and our own self (soul/mind/ brain etc.). However I feel its the pull which is far more important than the push, not that the push doesn't make a difference, it definitely does , but a sincere pull is far more effective. Its like doing something which we really want to do against something we are forced to do . All of us in our childhood had subjects which we did not like and those which we loved, and our scores were mostly better in those subjects which we really wanted to excel in. Of course some of us would say, "what about the external factor called dad who used to be after us with a cane forcing us to perform better "? Well even in that case we would not have performed better until we ourselves really wanted to do so. isn't t?


Consider students in a college ( say a B school :) ), we here are constantly under pressure to complete assignments and make presentations and I know for sure that even if Professors put tremendous pressure on us to make the best presentation, yet we pour in our efforts only for those presentations which excite us , where we want to excel and the rest are mere formalities which we have to fulfill in order to get the degree.


I did my engineering from a descent engineering college ( one that was not perhaps as famous as IIT or NIT, but was descent enough to get all the 1000 students a job at the end of 4 years ) and now I am Pursuing MBA from a reputed college in Pune.I see a big difference in the attitude of the students , the one's in the small not so reputed college are aware of the fact that they have to put in that extra effort to achieve their dreams and this comes from within ,and their performance increases multi fold, whereas those here in a reputed college tend to take the "brand name" of the college for granted . As a consequence they do not give in their best and perform much lesser than what that could have done despite the external pressure form faculties to perform better.

Let me tell you about a dear friend.

He hails from a small town in Bihar, educated in a school where the vernacular language was the mode of communication yet today he is working in a MNC in Bangalore, a job for which million others in metro cities are still dreaming of.
His oratory skills could challenge any convent educated student.

That said the question is how did he do this ? The answer is simple - sheer will power. It is his PULL that brought him accolades. There was no push involved, no external factor compelling him to do better, but the desire to excel and the passion to succeed which elevated him to a position that many of us envy.

We spend a lot of time pondering over what is that is lacking in our life which prevent us from being successful. Well its alright to think and find the gaps in our life and fill them, but we should not be obsessed with these gaps and keep pondering over them. Instead we should focus on the ample opportunities in front of us and that would make a lot of difference . Not only would it make our life more positive it would also prevent us form wasting time in pondering about what we lack in our life :). The pull from within would come only if we look at the opportunity in front of us that promises us success and not by pondering over the external push factors which we lack.

20 comments:

Kavita A said...

wonderful thought!!!
n a quick outlay of ur thoughts after class discussion!!!
m sure ppl will get sme reality check on reading ds!! :)

Arnav said...

@Kavita A

Thanks for the visit :)

Harsha D said...

Even Nature agrees with you!

Pulling a lawnmover in the presence of friction is better than pushing it! :)

Arnav said...

@Harsha D

Thanks you for the visit :)
True nature has so much to teach us :)

aprajitha said...

well said

aprajitha said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Arnav said...

@apra
thanks for the visit ...

Matangi Mawley said...

that was very well written arnav.. nice picture too.. tht goes very well along with the post!

good!

Urvashi said...

hmm....pull really works better for me too..!!

Push may bring results but as u highlighted, it would definitely not be useful or contribute to the knowledge of the person....!!

TC ....cyaa :)

Jaunty anima said...

Thoughtful Post!!

It's all in the will..Will wins us races...

Made my day, this post!!
Keep writing!!

Unknown said...

well said Arnav , Push does helps us in givin start to few thoughts ,ideas,work but its pull which helps us to keeps it get going

Amandeep Singh said...

So right!

I guess I need both!
;)

Indrajit said...

I can't agree more with Standby mind. Me too need both.

On 2nd thought, Pull from the core is important and that should be constant driver.
N ya Biharis do rock man! I know my friends. ;)
their case study or brain study should be a treat for any scientists (I say it in all respect).

Tk care.

Arnav said...

@Matangi
Thanxs so much...

Do visit again :)
keep smiling :)
arnav

Arnav said...

@Urvashi
thanks for the visit.
I also believe the same , in the most gravest of situations it is the pull which keeps things going :)



Arnav

Arnav said...

@Jaunty anima

Thanks :) Glad you liked it :)

Well yes, "will is the strongest force "

Arnav

Arnav said...

@Manish

thanks , finally you comment on my blog :)

keep smiling :)

Arnav said...

@standbymind

Thanxs for the visit ;)

well yes both are important ... but when one has to chose one it has to be pull as one can be succesfull with 0% push and 100 % pull , but not with 0 % pull and 100 % push..


Keep visiting

Arnav said...

@Indrajit

Thanxs for the visit ..
Couldnt agree more :)

Keep visitng and smiling :)

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Remarkable indeed!

I've been away from my fellow bloggers and their blogs for a long time now and feel disconnected....! Feels good to be back!

Wishing you and folks a merry Christmas and a very happy new year!