SPARTAN SERIES #217: “SUCCESS IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF FAILURE; IT IS THE PERSISTENCE THROUGH FAILURE!”

We are all familiar with the saying, “We do not want to play to lose!” Sometimes we are so daunted by the competition or the task at hand we become doubtful that we have what it takes to win. So, we defer to just being happy being on the playing field rather than being stoked to win at any cost. In my estimation there is nothing worse than playing for a “PARTICIPATION TROPHY!” I can recall while playing high school football that we were going to play the #1 Team in the state. I’ll be damned if our coaching staff told us to “just do your best!” That little pep talk or lack thereof sucked the wind right out of the room. We almost felt like we ought to not even play the game. The primary source of our motivation to win had just told us that they did not believe in us…..We got killed! The rest of the season we never lost a game. We dug deep and found out something about us that was priceless. We could win even when the world didn’t think we had a chance. This little lesson has served me well throughout my life. The mantra goes something like this, “Do the work!” — “Nobody outworks me!” I have developed a philosophy that says, “you can lift more than me but in the end you will never be able to keep up with me.” Sure, I’ve gotten my butt kicked on stage and it’s no fun. But, in the end I have to determine to be better next time. I return to the basics of never being outworked and allowing no room to entertain failure in my mind. Every ritual revolves around be the best despite feeling alone and beaten. Persistence is nothing more than developing habits that project yourself as a winner. When you are beaten you have to shift your thinking to determine that being beaten is temporary and my hard work will reflect my persistence to win.

Bottom Line: To be the best you have to know that failure is not forever….Get up and keep going despite the pain…..