Have no regrets…

October 7, 2024

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 10/7/24 – Originally sent March 6, 2010.

“Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.” (George Halas) When I was growing up, the Chicago Bears were “my” team, and I admired George “Papa Bear” Halas. Win or lose, he could never be accused of not giving his best as a coach. His quote is more than about playing football; it’s about playing the game of life. Give it your best today. 😉 Jack

 Many times, giving something your best effort will still result in not winning. I chose to say it that way because, if you gave it your best, you did not lose; you just fell a little short of winning. If you watch sports events that involve individual competitions, such as track and field, you will often see athletes who did not win the event, but who are happy and maybe even celebrating because they may have achieved a personal best in the event. Have no regrets…

Life presents us with many opportunities (some might say challenges) and each time it does we are faced with the choice of giving it our best or just going through the motions. One almost always regrets later that they did not give the opportunity their best effort. Have no regrets…

In our personal lives many have lingering regrets about not being able to summon up the courage to ask out that person we’ve been admiring from afar. Maybe we regret having passed by the person begging for help. What would your best have been if you had not ignored that opportunity? Perhaps we held back when the call when out for volunteers to help on some project or effort that seemed hard or unglamorous. What difference to that cause would you have made, had you given it your best effort? Have no regrets…

A major difference between highly successful people and those who are not as successful in life is that the highly successful people don’t wait for opportunities to present themselves; they seek them out or create those opportunities themselves. Win or lose at those opportunities those highly successful people never regret having tried and giving it their best effort. In fact, many times they eventually win, or succeed, because they keep coming back and giving it their best shot again and again. Have no regrets…

Thomas Edison is the classic example of a successful person who did not let failures stop him. He is quoted as having said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. Edison tried to learn something from each failure. So, keep giving it your best and learn from any failures. Most of all remember George Hallis’s advice and give it your all. Have no regrets…

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Posted by Norm Werner

Take the risk and find out…

June 28, 2022

I’m not hung up on this theme, but this quote just inspired me this morning. I got this quote from one of the daily inspirational quotes emails that I get every day and it seemed worthwhile saving and writing about.

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” (T.S. Eliot)

Elliot isn’t about taking stupid risks, like those depicted in the show Jackass; but, rather, about pushing yourself to get to the next level, to achieve a new personal best, to go as far as you can and then go farther. It is about overcoming personal fears that stop you short of achieving your goals in life. The sad truth is that too many people convince themselves that they cannot achieve those goals – they stop themselves short.

I have written here in the past about how athletes use visualization when preparing to make their next attempt at something – they “see” the success that they want to achieve. In terms of achieving  your personal best you could say, “If you can see it you can be it”.  The process of visualization of success unconsciously involves the visualization of overcoming any roadblocks to achieving that success. It allows the mind to tackle the thoughts about how to overcome those obstacles within the positive frame of mind of “seeing” the successful outcome.

Taking the risk to go too far is not the same as buying a lotto ticket and starting to dream about how you will spend the money if you win. You know that the odds of winning the lotto are just about impossible, so you really know that you are just daydreaming to amuse yourself. Taking the risk to push beyond where you are and get to the next level is a commitment. Even if you don’t achieve the end goal in the initial effort; once you try, you will be further along that path than you have ever been before, and you should celebrate that – you have achieved a new personal best.

More important than things like monetary goals or job position goals, one should always push the personal boundaries than constrain you from achieving the goals that the U.S. Army used as a tag line in their commercials – “Be the best that you can be.”

What is the best that you can be? Take the risk to find out. Take time at the end of each day to reflect on how you could have been a better person that day. Could you have reacted better to someone in need? Could you have spent more time with family? Could you have been more encouraging and supportive of a spouse or of your children? Could you have shown more love towards a neighbor or others. Don’t beat yourself up over those missed opportunities, just resolve to push beyond those mistakes and do better tomorrow. As a side benefit, you will find that you achieve many of your other goals in life, just by being the best person that you can be.

How far can you go towards being the best person that you can be?

Take the risk today and find out.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Be brave and be at peace…

August 10, 2021

I saw this quote recently and knew that it was worthy of a blog post – Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace. (Amelia Earhart)

Think about it. Can you be at peace if you are consumed by the Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda’s? We get those thoughts about things that we didn’t do because we didn’t have the courage to try at the time they occurred.

One can find peace, even in failure, if you tried your best, but just fell short of achieving your goal. Many athletes find solace in a losing effort if they achieved their personal best in the effort. For others, just the fact that they tried and didn’t quit gives them peace.

We can learn from efforts that were not successful, but we get nothing but regrets for attempts not made due to a lack of courage. The road to mediocrity and unhappiness branches off from the road not taken due to fears, uncertainties and doubts.

Perhaps you can add to your prayers this thought – “God grant me peace by giving me the courage to try.” At the end of each day, if you can look back without regrets for not even trying new things or having the courage to meet new people, you will find yourself at peace.

There is much to learn from the motto of the athletes that compete in Special Olympics events – “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

If you can live your life with that motto in mind you will find yourself at peace with yourself and the world.  Be brave and be at peace…

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Posted by Norm Werner