"Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24  If you compete to win, you give yourself a chance to win and to also be the best you can be.  If you live your life to 'win', you give yourself a chance to 'win' and to also be the best you can be.  If you compete/live to get second or third of fourth, you most likely will get fifth or sixth or thirtieth because what makes you think striving for anything but your best will get you anything worth achieving?  ​"I don't do things HALF-HEARTEDLY. I know that if I do, then I can expect HALF-HEARTED results."  Michael Jordan

Replace the word "game" with "life" and memorize ...​"No one plays this or any game perfectly. It's the player who recovers from their mistakes who wins."  Phil Jackson 

We lift weights to get stronger.  We undergo burdens in our life for the same reason.  The challenges in life will make us stronger and more capable of overcoming greater burdens later one.  After lifting weights, we feel the "pump" and it helps us to believe we did something productive.  When we "lift the weight of burden on our lives", the benefit is not as easily apparent.  Often times, we must wait and wait and wait and wait some more, and then some more ... and then possibly a lot more, until we finally see the growth.  "Strength doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn't."  Rikki Waters

Happiness is a response to our circumstances.  So is sadness.  When life is difficult or does not meet our expectations, then we are sad. The opposite of sadness is not happiness, it is gratitude.  When we are grateful, we tend to be less sad and open the door for happiness to exist.  Gratitude, along with Joy, are both attitudes and not a response to our circumstances.  Joy and gratitude are a choice.  We choose to be thankful.  We choose to have joy.  We are not slaves to our circumstances.  We have freedom to choose our attitude amidst our circumstances.  "Good talent with bad attitude equals bad talent."  Bill Walsh

Words to live by  ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Qhc-8cxMU 

"While you're sitting back complaining about a situation, another person is out there finding a solution to it." Trevor McLean

"No such thing as a free lunch" is a well known American economic theory that refers to that fact that the government may provide a free lunch (through welfare or some other system) but that lunch is not necessarily free ... it is paid in some other way and sometimes by someone else.  Most benefits in life, come at a cost.  Fame has a cost of privacy.  Leadership has a cost of responsibility.  Education has a cost of tuition.  Athletic success has a cost of sacrifice.  "Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile."  Vince Lombardi

I have noticed a very disturbing and unhealthy tread over the decades that I have been coaching/teaching/living.  I can't recall a day that has gone by in recent memory that I have not heard someone say in one form or another, "But it is hard".  Sometimes it is said as a statement of fact.  Sometimes it is said in disagreement as if to say, "You say it like it is easy but it isn't that easy, it is hard."  I don't disagree with either the statements of fact or the disagreements.  Things are hard/difficult and many things are easier said than done.  I get it.  However, just because something is difficult does not mean that is isn't right/correct/worth doing.  Difficulty shouldn't be a reason to not act.  "If you can't overcome hard, you're never going to have any great victories in your life." Nick Saban

"A butterfly will flap it's wings on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean and cause Matt Damon to grow potatoes on Mars."  We all make choices (cause) and those choices have results (effect).  Sometimes that result is positive and other times it is negative.  And sometimes it simply doesn't matter.  We spend too much time in our day worrying about things that don't matter ... primarily what others think about us.  If you truly want others to think of you in a positive way ... TREAT PEOPLE BETTER!  Quit wasting time trying to "please" or "impress" or prove to someone you are worth liking.  Your filtered selfie on FaceChatOgram isn't going to make you or the world a better place.  Talk with someone.  Get to know them.  Help them.  And spend less time worrying if they like you or not.  Take all of that energy and do something positive with your time.  "Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total, all those acts will be written in the history of this generation."  Robert F. Kennedy

"​One of the most important keys to success is having the discipline to do what you know you should do, even when you don't feel like doing it.”  If you google this exact motivational quote to see who said it, you will find the quote attributed to several different people, including the most popular "unknown".  Of course it is attributed to a bunch of people.  It is the most obvious statement ever made.  Unfortunately, it is a popular quote because most people who strive for success don't have the discipline to achieve it.  And that is why the bar in life is pretty low.  Show some discipline and you will surpass the majority of the human population and achieve a good level of success.  However, if you want to achieve your full potential and be your best, take the time and put in the effort to demonstrate more discipline than the slackers around you.

​Sometimes we need to do more.  Sometimes, we need to do less.  It isn't always the case to simply work harder and merely do the same thing with more effort.  Often times, we need to remove things from our life to allow ourselves to improve.  "Often it's not the daily increase, but the daily decrease that makes the difference. Hack away the unessential."  Bruce Lee