Scorecards are incidental – The Economic Times

We chase academic scores, bank balances, wealth rankings, awards and recognitions, positions, and memberships, and then extend the race to our children’s scores. We either get programmed to think of our progress in context of an absolute maximum score, like a 100% academic score, or to measure our progress in comparison to the progress of another person, like relative amount of wealth accumulated.

This focus on scorecards limits our minds and souls by getting us anchored, either to an absolute maximum capping of any achievement or to an achievement that is only measurable relative to that of another person. An undue focus on scores also diverts our attention from quality and enjoyment of the process, which then adversely affects our performance. An example is a slowdown of run-scoring by a cricketer who is trying to get from 90 to 100 runs.

Our scriptures say that you are a soul, atma, with infinite possibilities, and you are an extension and a part of another infinite soul, Paramatma. Your options are infinite, your journey is unique and incomparable with anyone else’s, and there is no absolute maximum against which you can measure yourself. The only anchor available in this infinity is you.

This wisdom from our ancient seers guides us to focus on getting our choices right, on the quality of our work, on the value systems that drive us, on the motivations that shape our journey, and on aiming to achieve peace and happiness from this journey anchored upon the Self. The scorecards that, then, come along are incidental.