'Consistency key to success': Abhinav Bindra shares his mantra of success

First Indian individual Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra shared his experiences and motivated the national shooting squad ahead of the crucial final three months of preparation leading to the 2024 Paris Olympics games. 

The session was organized by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) at Karni Singh Shooting Range, ahead of the first batch of shooters departing later in the day, for equipment testing in Europe.

Three such batches will leave in succession in April, besides a three-member women’s air pistol squad and the shotgun squad competing at the final Olympic qualifiers in Rio and Doha respectively.

Emphasizing the importance of consistency, Abhinav said, "Success is not a one-off event. Doing the right things consistently day in and day out is what leads to success."

On a query on how to maintain self-discipline, Abhinav said, “You have to be brutally honest with yourself and every day look yourself in the mirror before you go to sleep and ask yourself- did I do my best? If the answer is yes you will find you will have the result eventually.”

When asked what advice he would give a young Abhinav going back in time 20 years he surprised all by saying, “You know I strongly believe that I could not achieve my full potential. I wish I had more balance in life and could have other hobbies. I almost dehumainsed my pursuit. I would tell myself to be kinder to myself."

"I feel I didn’t pat myself on the back too often after I had achieved the goals I had set out to achieve. I feel that then you could recover better when you go back to the Shooting range and be mentally stronger in competition. If you have several pillars in your life, your base is stronger," said Abhinav.

On specific preparations ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games he said, “You know by that time it was my fourth Olympics and I had managed to detach myself from the outcome. I was focused on the process. I wanted to do my best with every single shot. I never thought of winning or losing. I managed to stay in the present moment because the truth is in the present moment.”

He signed off by asking shooters not to train to get better in training but to get better in competitions. He asked them to not get into their comfort zones in training and to challenge themselves constantly and make it harder.

India has won a total of 19 quota places in Shooting for the Paris Olympic Games across Rifle, Pistol, and Shotgun disciplines, their highest quota haul ever.