"1 chance in a 1000. So I do have a chance, then!"
Stephen Donald was the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team's 4th choice fly half and yet he was the man whose crucial penalty kick made them rugby world champions.
Their victory against a French team that, for the first time in the whole Rugby World Cup had started playing good rugby, was by the narrowest of margins: 8-7.
The New Zealand team's kicker Piri Weepu kept on missing his kicks which was adding to the already intense pressure on his side to win their first world title in 24 years. Despite consistently being the best team in the world for years, the All Blacks have had a reputation for "choking" on the big occasion. Only this time, they were playing the final on home soil which added to intensified hope and expectation from a rugby-mad country.
Then, due to injury before and during the match, Stephen Donald suddenly found himself in the driving seat of the All Blacks team in their most defining moment for almost a quarter of a century.
The 27-year-old, who two weeks ago was enjoying a fishing holiday, kicked what proved to be the match-winning penalty.
"You always dream about things like playing in World Cups, but as number four in line you start to give that up a bit. But when I got the call I felt like the dream just got that much closer to reality again.
"To pretty much come from nowhere and find yourself playing in a World Cup final is an unreal experience - it just feels funny. It hasn't sunk in yet, and it's the same for the rest of the guys.
"The coaches said to me to be ready because it could come down to me having to kick the winning goal, and that is exactly how it panned out."
So no matter how unlikely you think you are of getting that job you covet, because you feel others are better placed than you; no matter how unlikely you think it is that the amazing and seemingly unattainable person you want to ask out will agree to it; and no matter how insurmountable a physical challenge may appear to be, there is always a chance, even a tiny one, that you can win through which will boost your confidence to heady heights.
I remember someone telling me once about an Australian guy they knew who they advised had only a 1 in 1000 chance of achieving something in his business.
His reply: "1 in a 1000. So I do have a chance, then!"
Their victory against a French team that, for the first time in the whole Rugby World Cup had started playing good rugby, was by the narrowest of margins: 8-7.
The New Zealand team's kicker Piri Weepu kept on missing his kicks which was adding to the already intense pressure on his side to win their first world title in 24 years. Despite consistently being the best team in the world for years, the All Blacks have had a reputation for "choking" on the big occasion. Only this time, they were playing the final on home soil which added to intensified hope and expectation from a rugby-mad country.
Then, due to injury before and during the match, Stephen Donald suddenly found himself in the driving seat of the All Blacks team in their most defining moment for almost a quarter of a century.
The 27-year-old, who two weeks ago was enjoying a fishing holiday, kicked what proved to be the match-winning penalty.
"You always dream about things like playing in World Cups, but as number four in line you start to give that up a bit. But when I got the call I felt like the dream just got that much closer to reality again.
"To pretty much come from nowhere and find yourself playing in a World Cup final is an unreal experience - it just feels funny. It hasn't sunk in yet, and it's the same for the rest of the guys.
"The coaches said to me to be ready because it could come down to me having to kick the winning goal, and that is exactly how it panned out."
So no matter how unlikely you think you are of getting that job you covet, because you feel others are better placed than you; no matter how unlikely you think it is that the amazing and seemingly unattainable person you want to ask out will agree to it; and no matter how insurmountable a physical challenge may appear to be, there is always a chance, even a tiny one, that you can win through which will boost your confidence to heady heights.
I remember someone telling me once about an Australian guy they knew who they advised had only a 1 in 1000 chance of achieving something in his business.
His reply: "1 in a 1000. So I do have a chance, then!"
posted: 26 Oct 11