Watching any sport being played is as much a form of entertainment as a form of education, for the way any sport is played it also distributes tips on how to perform your best in your personal as well as professional life.
Whenever you are watching a game, either live or the live telecast, a keen sense of observation shall be all that would be needed to catch a few hints on how to improve your performance in your own pursuits.
The outstanding performers in the sports have certain outstanding characteristics that make them stand apart from the rest of the players. If you watch intently and get mentally involved in the game, it shall start revealing to you what these extraordinary characteristics are.
The Physical & Mental Toughness
Just gauge the level of confidence exhibited by the best performers in the game. Their confidence smacks of a very high level of mental and physical toughness. They display a high degree of preparedness to tackle the conditions prevailing at the start or likely to crop up during the course of the game.
A similar high level of physical and mental toughness is required in the personal life too, to meet & tackle the changing circumstances affecting us. We need to give our best in all kinds of situations. A high degree of inner strength generates a high level of confidence in us that helps us tide over divergent pressures to succeed in life.
The Focus
Just watch the movement of the eyes of the best players. Can you observe how focused they are in the field? 
Their mind is totally engrossed in the task at hand. There are no signs of any distracting thoughts that can take them mentally away from the game. Try to sense the concentration of a batsman about to play a shot in Cricket and feel the sight of the target in the eyes of the bowler. Similarly watch the eyes of the tennis player firmly hooked on to the ball. Understand and feel the total dedication & involvement of the gymnast about to begin the acrobats.
Staying focused on the goal with dedication & determination, with full involvement of the mind and the body is what is also needed in personal and professional life for a shining performance.
A Sound Plan
The top performers in the game always have a sound plan to put up their best performance in the field. Their body language drops enough hints of approaching the game according to a well thought of plan to meet the prevailing conditions.
Look at the way a top bowler changes his approach as he bowls to two different batsmen. Similarly, watch the way a top batsman tackles two different bowlers. Each one of them indicates a remarkable mental plan according to which he decides his future actions to succeed in the task on hand. Their actions reveal that they have their plans ready for effective implementation under changing situations.
We also need to have a well thought out plan around which to weave our actions in order to give our best in life. The situations would change with each passing day. If we work to a sound plan, that includes our likely response in likely new situations, we can always take the best actions under various emerging circumstances.
Attention to the minutest details
One very fascinating aspect that strikes the keen observer of any game is the fact that the best players attach very significant importance to even seemingly trivial details.
Watching the game of Cricket you would learn the importance of the weight of the bat, the effectiveness of the proper grip on the handle of the bat as it affects the shots, the effect of the way the face of the bat is angled on the direction of the shot played and the importance of the shine of the ball for extracting swing & spin etc.
While watching tennis, just observe the effect of the fitting of the clothes on the stride of the player. Also understand how the sweat on the hands is affecting the player’s ability to play forceful shots. These apparently trivial issues cannot be ignored by the best players who aim to give their best performances.
The same holds true for giving your performance of the highest standard in your personal and professional life. Paying good attention to all the finer details of your all kinds of activities can transform the ordinary into extraordinary.
The Back-up Plan
Even the best plans in sports sometimes appear to be slipping due to change in playing conditions or due to outsmarting by the opponent. This immediately calls for a change in tactics to give the best performance under the changed conditions. It signifies the necessity of a back-up plan. The availability of a back-up plan gives the advantage of a quick decision making capability, the confidence of the risk taking ability and the maintenance of the emotional balance in the face of all kinds of odds.
In personal life too, the situations and circumstances can take a U turn without giving any advance warning. We must care to give a thought to have an alternative plan and imbibe an instinct to make quick decisions in different situations. We should also cultivate an ability to withstand all emotional and physical disturbances to brilliantly cope up with all the challenges in life.
Downfalls teach great lessons
Winning and losing is an integral part of any sports event. Even the best players have had to lick the dust in their agonizing moments of terrible performance. The glories of their shining accomplishments have sometimes been overshadowed by their awful displays. The sweet memories of victory have been dented by the bitter tastes of defeat.
It would be of immense interest to us to notice the great comebacks made by a number of renowned players after undergoing the hardship caused by unexpectedly poor performances. They could rise up again because they tried to learn their lessons from their past mistakes. They were able to re-kindle the fire of glory because they fought to overcome their weaknesses. For them the failures meant that they needed to further sharpen up their skills to emerge unscathed in future events.
We can take it as the most important lesson to be learnt from any sport. Failures & poor displays indicate towards the need to sharpen our skills further. “There is no earthly reason, why we should always be exempt from difficulty and disaster”. But we have all the reasons to keep learning and keep trying to put the best foot forward.
