Beginners Luck !!

“Every search begins with beginners luck and ends with the victors being severely tested”

This quote and numerous references to the phrase ‘Beginners Luck’ throughout Paulo Coelho’s book “The Alchemist” prompted me explore in depth about this phenomenon.
Beginners Luck is a phenomenon of novices or amateurs experiencing disproportionate amount of success or succeeding against experts in a game. It is sometimes also referred as “Principle of Favourability”. This particular phenomenon has a logic that novices are not aware of nuances of the game and free to think & act. However, as the person starts knowing more about something, the more limited he becomes in his thinking. Beginners luck is thought to end when ‘innocent’ psychological mindset is replaced by that of an expert & experienced mind.

Beginners luck is something that encourages a newcomer to chase & fulfill his dreams. But as the quote in the beginning states that to be a “Victor” each and everything that you have learned will be tested and as Paulo Coelho states “Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way”. As the person realizes his dreams, the soul of the world wants him to master the lessons he has learned as he chased his dream.

Now this thought brings me to arena of sports where sportsmen have had their share of beginners luck, but gave up & faded into oblivion when they were tested, while few others persisted with their efforts to realize their dreams and are today names that are thought of being greatest their respective disciplines.

Sachin Tendulkar for instance has been one of the few victors. In his initial days as first class batsmen the beginners luck brought him early success at domestic level having made centuries in his debut in Irani trophy, Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy that led to his selection to National team after just one first class season. Soon, the beginners luck ended. It took him 79 ODIs to score his First Century at international level. But after that, there was no looking back and today he is credited with almost all the records that a batsman can create. However his dream was to win the World Cup. He kept on his pursuit towards that dream despite all odds that included critics, physical abilities, age & mental stress. But he kept on performing with due diligence. At last his dream was realised after over 20 years of test and mastering all the lessons that he had learnt all throughout his quest for the ultimate dream. Kapil Dev, Vivian Richards, Allan Border are few others from cricket who have realized their dreams after the conquest. The chess grandmaster Vishy Anand undoubtedly belongs to this league.

However, there are others who have quit at a point, best described by language of desert as ‘Dying of thirst just when palm trees have appeared on the horizon’. Many athletes have basked in the glory of Beginners luck but never were able to cherish their dreams. Take for example Ronaldinho or Wayne Rooney who had some very glorious years early on, but have not been able to realize their dreams. As one searches through the history of sports one can find several such men who quit at that point and contained themselves with initial success, thus ending their chase towards their dreams.

So, the truth lies in crossing the chasm of beginners luck and ending up as victor through realizing your dreams.