Winning and Losing

2nd August 2012

With the Olympics dominating every news bulletin at the moment, it seems relevant to touch on an aspect of this, which I think says a lot about the individuals involved. That being who is prepared to say, “I was beaten by a better person”, or “I wasn’t good enough”, and who is quick to look for excuses and blame others for their inability to perform.

Being good at anything takes masses of dedication, learning, practice and self belief, so no-one should expect to triumph without striving to become the best at whatever it is you do. Blaming others or circumstances for not achieving what you had hoped to, is an easy way out, and means that you yourself are not prepared to take responsibility and be held accountable for the outcome of your actions.

I can’t now remember who made the quote “don’t wish that things were easier, but wish that you were better” (badly paraphrased), but it is so important to take that on board in sport, in work, or in any other walk of life. Nobody likes a bad loser, (or a bad winner for that matter), but the person who takes it on the chin, decides they didn’t like that feeling, and then bounce back to win the next time, is someone who we can all admire and want to emulate.

In business as with sport, we all have tough times, and we all make bad decisions and mistakes from time to time. The trick is to learn from these, to work smarter, and to find ways to make sure you never repeat those errors. Don’t blame the economic climate, the government, the sad weather, or anything else. Instead work out how to do it better, and then make sure you do it.

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