Lessons in Belief, Play, and Choices
This week we explore how belief fuels comebacks, games make life fun, and $5 million tests human nature.
I build businesses to pursue a rich life. I share lessons I learn along the way.
Here are this weeks insights:
It’s Never Over Until You Believe It’s Over
Life Is A Game - Why Not Play It?
What Would You Do for $5 Million (₹43 crores)? Lessons from The Beast Games
You can access previous editions of my weekly emails here. Let’s begin!
(1) It’s Never Over Until You Believe It’s Over
Rahul Dravid did not get a hundred for 4 years away from India. I met him on the first day of the Lord Test and said "JAM what's happening? How long will you play?" Because he was a friend I could ask him that.
He said "I am still good enough to get Test Match hundreds."
I said "You know the last four years haven't been for you. How do you think you can do that?"
He finished that series with four test hundreds in four test matches. One at Lords. One at Trentbridge. One at Headingly. And one at Oval.
When you meet these champions and talk to them, you realize, that the belief never goes till the bat is in the cupboard. And I think that is a huge learning for everyone. It is never over in anything in life till you actually believe it's over.
(2) Life Is a Game—Why Not Play It?
I’ve always found life more enjoyable when I gamify it. Turning everyday tasks into challenges, goals, or scorecards doesn’t just add fun—it brings focus and motivation.
Our entire society thrives on gamification.
Sports have scores to track individual and team performances.
Work measures success with salaries and profits.
Health uses test ranges to track fitness and illness levels.
But here’s the best part: You can gamify everything.
Outward vs. Inward Scorecards
When you gamify life, your scorecard can either look outward or inward:
Outward-facing scorecards: Competing against others (“I’m better than them”).
Inward-facing scorecards: Competing against yourself (“I’m better than I was last year”).
The problem with outward-facing scorecards?
There will always be someone better than you. And someone worse off. This creates a cycle of envy and comparison that’s largely outside your control. Why burden yourself with negative energy? Just don’t play this game.
The beauty of inward-facing scorecards is that your inputs directly influence your outputs.
You set the benchmark.
You measure your progress.
You decide if you’ve improved or declined.
By tracking an inward scorecard, you’re not only competing to improve, but you’re also gaining a deeper understanding of what you’re capable of. You become your own rival—and your own ally.
I Gamify My Health
My workout time at the gym more than doubled this year. I'm visibly and physically stronger.
I started tracking percentage of days moved. I beat my target of 70%.
I got benchmarks to beat for 2025.
At the end of the day, life is a game. While you’re here, why not play it? Gamifying your journey makes everything more fun, more engaging, and more purposeful.
(3) What Would You Do for $5 Million (₹43 crores)? Lessons from The Beast Games
A thousand contestants competing for $5 million (~₹43 crores). That’s the premise of The Beast Games on Amazon Prime, a fascinating show that reveals many truths about human nature.
At first glance, the motivation is simple—life-changing money. But what makes the show so captivating is how the challenges are designed to expose the complexity of human behavior. Contestants, driven by the same ultimate goal, often act in ways that contradict their chances of winning. It’s a striking example of how differently we are wired, and how we behave when the stakes are high.
Here are some scenarios that made me reflect:
➤ Sacrifice for the Group
In some rounds, contestants had to voluntarily leave the game so others in their group could advance. Amazingly, many chose to sacrifice themselves for people they didn’t even know; complete strangers. These moments highlighted individuals who prioritized the group over their own interests, proving that altruism is also a form of self-interest as it makes you see yourself as a person who goes beyond the self so that others can benefit from your actions.
➤ Emotional Manipulation
Not everyone acted selflessly. In one instance, two brothers teamed up to manipulate a woman into sacrificing herself so they could move forward. Through emotional persuasion and calculated reasoning, they convinced her to give up her chance. It was a reminder of how easily emotions can be weaponized against self-interest.
➤ Fairness Through Chance
In many cases, groups opted for fair ways to determine who advanced—rolling dice, drawing cards, or playing Uno. It showed how, even in a competitive environment, fairness and consensus often prevail. Had I found myself in this competition, I would have been using this fair method to come to results as much as possible.
➤ Unfairness Despite Creating Rules
On the darker side, some contestants went out of their way to defeat others. In one scenario, a white male who lost a challenge refused to honor his commitment to leave the game to ensure that his two Black teammates were also eliminated. How diabolical!
➤ Distraction as a Strategy
In a challenge requiring contestants to count backward in their heads, one woman lost track and dropped her ball too early. Instead of accepting defeat, she shouted random numbers to throw others off. It worked. Several contestants lost their count. I found her behavior morally questionable.
➤ The Temptation of Bribes
Contestants were offered amounts ranging from $20,000 to $1 million (bribes) to consider their own self-interest instead of the interest of the group. The cost of anyone accepting a bribe was their teammates being eliminated from the competition with zero. It happened often.
But remarkably, when the group leaders were chosen, none of them took the $1 million bribe, choosing to honor the trust that the group put in them. This proved that there is some power in “the collective wisdom of the crowd”.
What Would I Do?
Watching The Beast Games made me question my own choices.
In the early rounds, would I take a $100,000 bribe to leave, knowing it would eliminate others? Rationally, with odds of winning at only 0.1%, the smart move would be to take the money and leave in my own terms instead of leaving my fate to the decision of someone else. But the motivation to see how far I can get would probably be more than leaving with just the $100,000.
In later rounds, when relationships are built and trust matters, my sense of identity would likely stop me from betraying the group for personal gain. If I were chosen to represent my group’s interests, I wouldn’t take the $1 million bribe. Instead, I’d aim for a fair playing field for everyone because winning at the cost of others’ trust doesn’t align with who I am.
What Would You Do?
The Beast Games is an interesting study in human nature, incentives, and decision-making. I recommend watching it with your family. The discussions it sparks about trust, fairness, and self-interest are as interesting as the show itself.
What would you do if you were in their shoes? Would you sacrifice yourself, manipulate others, or resist temptation? Send me an email to let me know.
Harsh Batra (LinkedIn)
Thank you for reading. If you’re curious about the businesses I build, here they are:
iDeals VDR - If you are running M&A transactions, planning an IPO, or sharing anything confidential online, you won’t find a better Virtual Data Room partner than us. Here is a 90 second video of iDeals. Companies like Pfizer, Mercedes and Tata trust us. Thousands of investment bankers, lawyers and insolvency professionals use us everyday to run their due diligence processes. If you have a need to share anything sensitive online, send me an email on harsh@idealscorp.com. I’d love to work with you.
Happy Ratio - I founded Happy Ratio because I am immensely passionate about health. To get the most out of life you need to be healthy. To be healthy you need to eat the right foods and drink the right beverages. But this is not always possible or easy. Happy Ratio provides clean, tasty and healthy foods and drinks. Check out our menu on Zomato and Swiggy. Or visit us at our quick service restaurant at CyberHub in Gurgaon. We serve employees from Deloitte and Marks & Spencers and do events for companies like Samsung and Oppo. If you want us to do an event for you reach out to us at ops@happyratio.com.
Marcellus Investment Managers - I am a Marcellus client because their investment philosophy resonates with how I think about investing. Their approach to investing in clean, honest and cash flow positive businesses can yield stupendous results over time. I trust them with my savings and evangelize their approach. Investing comes with inherent risks so please do your own due diligence before deciding where to put your money. I am also an Independent Financial Advisor with Marcellus.