“Don’t whine. Don’t complain. Don’t make excuses. Just get out there, and whatever you’re doing, do it to the best of your ability. And no one can do more than that. I tried to get across, too, that — my opponents don’t tell you — you never heard me mention winning. Never mention winning. My idea is that you can lose when you outscore somebody in a game. And you can win when you’re outscored. I’ve felt that way on certain occasions, at various times. And I just wanted them to be able to hold their head up after a game. I used to say that when a game is over, and you see somebody that didn’t know the outcome, I hope they couldn’t tell by your actions whether you outscored an opponent or the opponent outscored you. That’s what really matters: if you make effort to do the best you can regularly, the results will be about what they should be. Not necessary to what you would want them to be, but they will be about what they should, and only you will know whether you can do that.” -John Wooden
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.” -Richard Feynman
Don’t be fooled into thinking that because you had a good outcome, it means you were working correctly. You might just have gotten lucky.
Over the long term, it’s process that counts. That is what you can control.
The final outcome, the final score, the championship trophy, etc…that has a lot more to do with the Fates. Speaking of, this poem from George Moriarty (former MLB player, umpire and poet)
The Road Ahead or the Road Behind
Sometimes I think the Fates must grin, as we denounce them and insist, the only reason we can’t win, is the Fates themselves that miss.
Yet there lives on the ancient claim: we win or lose within ourselves. The shining trophies on our shelves, can never win tomorrow’s game.
You and I know deeper down there’s always a chance to win the crown; but when we fail to give our best, we simply haven’t met the test, of giving all and saving none, until the game is really won.
Of showing what is meant by grit, of playing through when others quit; of playing through not letting up, it’s bearing down that wins the cup.
Of dreaming there’s a goal ahead, of hoping when our dreams are dead, of praying when our hopes have fled, yet losing, not afraid to fall, if bravely we have given all.
For who can ask more of a man, that giving all within his span. Giving all it seems to me, is not so far from victory.
And so the fates are seldom wrong, no matter how they twist and wind, it’s you and I who make our fates — we open up or close the gates, on the road ahead or the road behind.
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