Tag Archives: Winning

Best Effort

I was reading about what the famous basketball coach John Wooden said to his players. He told them that he didn’t consider winning the most important thing. As a matter of fact, he never mentioned winning to his players. He stressed “best effort” for everybody, and felt that a player should feel badly only if he didn’t give it his all.

That really hit me recently as I was running along side my running buddy. We are side by side as long as we’re running at a steady pace, but when it’s time to sprint, she bolts out way ahead of me. Knowing I was giving it MY best effort put all my feelings of failure of not being able to keep up with her away. I felt great knowing that I had given it my all and I could feel proud of my workout. I don’t dread her sprinting ahead anymore. She is 30 years younger than I am, so I shouldn’t be feeling that bad anyway! I want to know that I’ve done my best and that is success. I’m glad that I came to that conclusion before her 20 year old friend joined us too!

What I’m learning so far

This takes work. There’s no doubt about it. But is it worth it?  I’ve been putting together the talk for the ladies breakfast that I was asked to speak at about health and fitness and it’s taking a ton of work. Everything in life that is worth something usually does. It’s just a fact of life.

I was reading about what the famous basketball coach John Wooden said to his players. He told them that he didn’t consider winning the most important thing. As a matter of fact, he never mentioned winning to his players. He stressed “best effort” for everybody and felt that a player should feel badly only if he didn’t give it his all. That really hit me this morning as I was running alongside my 21 year old friend. We’re side by side as long as we’re running at a steady pace, but when it’s time to sprint, she bolts out way ahead of me. Knowing I was giving it MY best effort, put all feelings of failure of not being able to keep up with her away. I felt great that I had given it my my all and I could feel proud of my work out. I don’t dread her sprinting ahead anymore. She is 30 years younger than me, so I shouldn’t be feeling bad anyway. I guess that’s just my competitive nature.

I’m feeling stronger in my legs and lungs. I’m looking forward to, not dreading Hiit days. I’m lifting heavier and feeling leaner. Not bad for only 5 1/2 weeks work. Is it worth it? I’d say it is!