Justin Langer: Take the plunge and try new things if you get a chance

England have just played one of the great Test cricket series in history.
Coming down to the last morning, they needed 35 runs to win 3-1. India had to claim four wickets to make it 2-2.
Cricket, and the brilliance of the Test summer was in every conversation; at least within the circles I hover.
It reminded me of the 2005 Ashes series; a series people still talk to me about today. We may have lost, but a lot of hearts were won in those five Test matches.
But this time the problem was most of the population here in the UK didn’t get to see it.
On that final morning, I walked the streets of London trying to find somewhere to watch the finale. The hotel I was staying at didn’t have Sky Sports (streaming channel) and, like most sports here, cricket isn’t shown on free-to-air TV.
It was bizarre. Here I am walking everywhere trying to find a glimpse of the action, but I was frustratingly left to ball-by-ball updates on the phone. A first-world problem of course, but very different than how we know it at home.
Even more bizarre was that every time I took out my phone to check the score, I had to stand with my back to a wall or hold onto it like my life depended upon it. An epidemic of stolen phones from the streets of the capital has everyone on edge.
When we arrived in London last week, our team’s security manager, ‘Big Al’ a 30-year veteran London copper, showed us video of brazen examples of people having their phones stolen out of their hands as they walked innocently along the street.
Crooks on electric bikes, dressed in balaclavas, literally ride past and grab phones or handbags before their victim can blink.
We were told that as soon as the phone is stolen, they are covered in tin foil to avoid detection and then sold off to the ‘banker’ for 300 pounds a pop. From there, the ‘banker’ strips the phone of its details and steals, on average, 30,000 quid from each victim before sending the handsets to China for re-sale.
Scarily, you can see potential bike thieves riding around with their faces covered, scouting for their next victim who is walking around oblivious to the predator.
During the week, we saw one of these hunters riding off clutching a very expensive handbag. Not a phone, but obviously another part of the criminal chain of valuable products on the market.
If I didn’t see it with my own eyes I would have thought it was a case of mythical scaremongering, like a tourist being eaten by a shark or bitten by a snake or a spider in Australia.
Sitting at a café or restaurant you can see what you suspect might be villains prowling around like monsters in a video game. ‘People watching’, one of my favourite pastimes, has taken on a whole new meaning here in London.
Crime aside, London also offers expensive coffee, expensive everything, no sport on free-to-air TV, dodgy weather and miserable Poms everywhere. Must be a rubbish place, right?
Are you kidding?
London — and the UK — is one of the best spots in the world to visit, work or live, and some of my greatest friends happen to be from Great Britain. Does any of the bad stuff stop me visiting the country I have been to nearly every year since I was 18 years old? No chance.
While I will never take Channel 7 sport for granted ever again. And, while I will never complain about Perth’s ‘peak-hour’ traffic — having spent four of the last five months in India and London — it is one of the wonderful parts of life seeing how others live.
Every country has their own stamp, and that is why we leave our homes to experience new realities. But nowhere is perfect.
I was reading during the week about a Singaporean expat saying, ‘What It’s Really Like to Live in Perth’. Following her views on expensive travel, groceries, dining out, lack of police safety, car break-ins, harsh summers, poor public transport, nothing to do, and limited job opportunities, the replies came thick and fast.
It seems like everywhere has their problems now. But like London, would I encourage visitors to stay away from Perth? You must be kidding. Ask me and I will tell you it’s the best place on earth.
The next day another headline caught my eye, ‘Sydney, I hate to say this, but you suck’. Journalist Aaron Patrick wrote about “a city with huge natural advantage, suffers traffic congestion, prohibitively expensive housing, rampant crime, a pathetic nightlife and unreliable public transport”. Whack.
That’s not my experience. Sydney is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Surrounded by water and opportunity, you would be game to tell a person from New South Wales that their State sucks, without expecting a degree of backlash.
Everyone seems to have a platform these days to promote their grievances, but context is a beautiful thing.
There are thousands of quotes written about overcoming fears and taking on the challenges of new surroundings or ventures. The fear of failure or the insecurity of being out of your comfort zone are real emotions for most humans.
This week I resigned as a non-executive director of publicly listed WA based company Mineral Resources. After three action-packed years of learning, stress and understanding, the time was right to step aside.
Following the announcement, I read comments from some about me, “getting a real job”, “good riddance”, “stay in your lane”, “waste of space”, “about time you left West Coast Eagles as a director as well”. The list went on.
Admittedly there were times when I started out at Min Res that my brain felt like it was going to burst out of my skull from learning.
The intake of information was extreme. Up to 500-600 pages of board papers to read each month. Learning about mining services, lithium, iron ore, governance, sustainability, ESG, litigation and how the geo-political landscape affected commodity prices were fascinating and at times daunting.
Full-day board meetings, visits to mine sites, conversations, committee meetings, reading and constant learning all expanded my view on those things and helped me understand.
As did an incredibly talented group of people I was fortunate enough to rub shoulders with for that period of my life. Like playing with great players, or talking with the best coaches, working with outstanding executives is absorbing and inspiring.
Because of them, and for the first time in my life, I have been checking the price of lithium and iron ore before I search the sports’ scores in the morning.
Some journalists attacked me for being out of my lane as an ex-sportsman. Their views were not unlike the punters’ opinions in the comments section early this week. But, when you are invited to take on new challenges, search new horizons, what are you supposed to do?
Letting others’ misguided views should never hold you back.
Being elected as a director of a company is a huge responsibility. Anyone who suggests it is an easy ride on the gravy train is gravely mistaken. There is nothing easy about it.
Would I do it again? Absolutely, if the timing was right. I believe you learn the most when the pressure is at its most intense and when you step outside your comfort zone.
When I was first selected to play Test cricket, was I going to say ‘no thank you, that sounds far to challenging’? Of course not, and while Test cricket was a baptism of fire when I first started, it became more comfortable as I became better at it.
Plenty had their opinion on whether I should or shouldn’t have been in the Test team, that’s their prerogative, and a part of the gig, but it was never going to stop me from having a go.
The same could be said for changing careers or facing your greatest fears.
Going from playing to coaching was a big jump, especially when it came to taking on the task of head coach or progressing from a player to the captain. Do I regret any of it, no chance, I wouldn’t change it for anything, and I would encourage anyone to take the plunge when opportunities present.
Like most things, what we see, and experience generally comes down to our attitude towards it.
Without having a go at something or visiting somewhere new, you have no idea if you are up for it. Whatever way, you will be better for the experience, even if the masked men on the bikes, or in your brains, are a bit scary.
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