It’s the bottom of the ninth and your team is behind by two. The bases are loaded and you’re in the box. The count is 2 and 2 with 2 outs and Blazing Thomas has hit his stride. You’ll never get a piece of his fastball.
Have you ever been right there? Right at the brink of the cliff that separates the men from the boys? Those that have what it takes and those that don’t? Maybe we all have, to some degree or another. And, for some of us, that moment has come while we were playing, well, less energetic sports. Like … Monopoly (for old schoolers – or Chess, just saying 🙂 ), or our favorite RPG, TCG, or CCG for the rest of us.
Consider the last time it happened to you. There you were, fired up and ready to win. You just knew this was it. The moment you’d been waiting for. For months now you’d been tinkering with your strategies and making notes in the margins of every shred of paper you come near.
Your boss is ready to fire you, your better half is exasperated, and the kids … Do you have kids? Maybe not. Where would you have found the time?
But, you did find the time to plan your victory lap – preceded, of course, by your fantastic win! YOU (right smack in the center of your mind) were the one firing the fastballs and no one was hitting them. And you were the talk of the town and the one elevated on everyone’s shoulders.
Now ask yourself: What exactly did you do that caused you to win? Did you win because you had stacked the deck? Or because you knew exactly which strategies, for sure, that your enemies – make that “your co-players” – were going to employ? Well, “No” to the first question (obviously, you’re not a cheater), and “Probably not” to the second (you had an inkling but nothing more).
But then, We’re still talking about your PLANS to win, right? You haven’t won yet. So … What are you going to do? How will you test your mettle? That is, before the big game?
Here are some Do-I-Have-What-It-Takes (?) points to ponder, cliché or not, they’re still appropriate:
- Winners Don’t Back Down
- Give It Your All
- You Only Go ’Round Once In Life (forgive me, I couldn’t resist)
- Winning Isn’t Everything, It’s The Only Thing
- In The End, You’ll Either Win Or You Won’t – So Be Sure To Win
- It Isn’t Whether You Win Or Lose – wait a minute, sure it is! And finally,
- The Opposition Is Only There To Test You, Not To Win – Show No Mercy!
If you agree with at least 3 out of 7 of these points, you’re probably a winner, at least most of the time.
And if you agree with all 7, well, I’m not so sure I’d like to play against you … um, I mean, not right away. 🙂
