3 Points to Ponder
- “An obsessive desire to achieve a grand vision is absolutely necessary for greatness. To play big requires a playing-to-win mentality.”
- “Yes, risk can lead to danger. But it also leads to growth, confidence, and overcoming great obstacles. To live a life all-in requires a healthy dose of risk.”
- “If you think you can win or you will lose, you are right. The decision starts in your mind before it ever manifests itself into reality.”
2 Quotes to Share
“I play to win whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.” -Michael Jordan
“If I’m not playing at 100%, it is going to be very difficult for me to win.” -Rafael Nadal
1 Story of Impact
Growing up, my family were family friends with the Andringa family, the second-generation owners of Vermeer Corporation. Jason, now the excellent CEO of Vermeer, was four years older than me in school and I laugh every time he recalls this story. When I was about in 4th or 5th grade and he was in 8th or 9th grade, we were playing basketball in my backyard and soon it turned into one-on-one. Now anyone who knows anything knows the vast physical difference between a 5th and 9th grader. As the game started, Jason thought he would take it easy on me until he realized… I thought I could win. I was playing my butt off and was going right at him. Relentless, passionate, and hard. He quickly realized, “Oh crap, I’m going to have to play, otherwise I’m going to lose to a 5th grader!” As I’ve gotten older, I realized how powerful my mind really was in shaping my path, as I always played to win. All in, no holding back, with a vision of what winning looked like to me. For many of us, we had this mentality at an early age, but life has knocked it out of us. We now live in a cage of fear, weighed down by expectations, and burdened with responsibilities. We’ve forgotten that we play to win, to take the big shot, and to challenge the world around us. The worry of failure has become bigger than the freedom of the fight. And yet, failure isn’t something to be avoided, as it is essential to our development. In what ways have you walked away from the big play out of fear of failure? Where do you need to shift your mentality back to playing to win?
