04th May, 2023
Our lives and the work we do rarely follow a straight line, They’re a myriad of dips, twists, turns, catapults, and zigzags.
There are people who see you for who you are, and there are people who see you for who you can become. Be the latter for yourself.
I recently read a blog by Tony Robbins, an American author, coach, speaker, and philanthropist known for his infomercials, seminars, and self-help books.
He joined a Speech class at high school because a very smart, pretty girl was taking the very same class and spent most of the class trying to entertain this girl he admired until one day Mr. Cobb, a teacher, came up to him and gave him a speech called “The Will to Win,” to deliver in two weeks at a regional competition.
The speech was about someone who refused to give up because they believed their life was meant to be something more than they were currently living. It was about overcoming every obstacle, every kind of pain, every tragedy, with sheer will and persistence that is only possible when someone feels a calling to serve beyond themselves.
Tony gave the speech, won first prize, and found a new direction, and in his words – “I realised that I could use my voice, my heart and my soul to touch people and help them take the action that would truly change their lives.”
Today he gets to use all his creativity to entertain, educate, and move people to transform.
When I read the speech, I had goosebumps from its effect on me. Sharing the wonderful words.
“The Will To Win Speech” By Vince Lombardi
“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that’s first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay,
and I don’t ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.
Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he’s got to play from the ground up – from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That’s O.K. You’ve got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you’ve got to play with your heart, with every fibre of your body.
If you’re lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he’s never going to come off the field second.
Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization – an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win – to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don’t think it is.
It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That’s why they are there – to compete.
To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to
win fairly, squarely, by the rules – but to win.
And in truth, I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh
reality of head to head combat.
I don’t say these things because I believe in the “brute” nature of man or
that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency.
But I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.”
So for anyone out there stuck on life not going as planned, or fearful of starting out, remember “Always aim to see yourself not as you are, but who you can become.”
Never lose the ‘Will to Win’ and Stay Blessed Forever!