Are You Committed To Win?
In 1987, I attended Earl Wooster High School in Reno, Nevada. I was so excited because I was finally fortunate enough to attend school with friends I grew up with in church. It was an awesome time to say the least. We were all athletic; we played basketball and football. I was not one of those guys who needed a lot of friends. I always had a few loyal friends who I am still great friends with today. When track season began in the spring, I asked my friends if they were going to participate. They all said yes, so I signed up too. I tried out for the 100m, 200m, 310 hurdles and the long jump, and I made the track team. When we had practice, I would goof off and laugh with my friends, I didn’t take track seriously. As long as I was committed to showing up for practice and chilling with my friends, I was okay. Now when it was time for the track meets, and I had to run my different races and represent the school, I was committed to my race. However, I was not committed to win them. You may ask, why? Because I never ran track to be prepared for the race, I only ran track to be with my friends. Interesting isn’t it? Why would someone waste their time running, practicing and sweating if they aren’t willing to win? That’s a great question! That’s the same question I have for you today. Are you just living to go to work so one day you can retire and sit on the couch watching T.V., or reading a good book? Or, are you committed to win in your life? When you fail to strive for your God given purpose because of excuses, you are no better than I was in high school. The only reason I joined the team was to hang out with my friends, get out of class and to waste time laughing and joking. I was not there to obtain the prize that was set before me. The difference in being committed and being committed to win, is simple. When you’re just committed, you don’t mind showing up, being supportive, going to work on time and following the rules. When you’re committed to win, you challenge yourself to get a promotion on the job, you go back to college and get your degree. You strive to fulfill your dreams to obtain them. When you are committed to winning you will not settle for less. I challenge you to stop making excuses of why you can’t do something. Stop complaining, stop saying you’re too old or that people don’t have your back. I have countless stories and examples I can give you to prove that none of these factors matter. However, I want you to be an example for yourself of how you can overcome these things. Say to yourself, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” Here are 7 steps you need to take in order to be committed to win:
Don’t live up to anyone’s standard: Create your own idea of what success looks like.
Do your best and then some: Give it all you’ve got and you will see positive results.
Quitters never win, winners never quit: Don’t give up on yourself or your goals. Go for the gold!
Get out of the blame game: The only person in charge of your decisions is you, take responsibility.
Take action NOW: Stop waiting for things or people to be different, go after your dreams.
Set some goals for next year and fulfill them: Plan your next move and execute.
Take small steps: Nothing changes until you do.