Victory Is Sweet

Victory Is Sweet dan skognes motivation blogger speaker teacher trainer coach educatorLet’s face it: losing hurts. Losing may suck, but victory is sweet because of the agony of defeat. If we never lost, we would never truly know the joy of winning. It is in the pain that we gain understanding of who we really are.

Mohammad Ali undoubtedly was one of the greatest athletes of all times…particularly in the boxing world. He knew both the joy of victory and the agony of defeat in and outside of the boxing ring. The thing that made him a champion was that he did not let the defeats keep him down. The defeats became his fuel to keep him focused on his goal of being “The Greatest.”

Whether you are an athlete, a teacher, preacher, businessman, or any other profession, you WILL face defeats from time to time. That’s life. How you handle defeat says more about who you are that just about anything else. Learn to take the defeats as temporary setbacks that will prepare you for what you want to do and propel you to be who you want to be.

Failing at something does not make you a failure unless you throw in the towel and give up on your dream.  Stay in the game. Refocus on what you want and determine what it will take to get there. You may have tried a thousand times and failed, but it just might be the next try that gives you your breakthrough.

You have to believe in yourself and your dreams. If you don’t believe in you, how can you possibly expect anyone else to? I am not talking about conceit. I am talking about a healthy self-confidence and a healthy self-awareness that encompasses your strengths and limitations.

Understand your weaknesses and work on them by all means, but focus on your strengths and maximize them. You can’t be great at everything, but there are probably a few things that you CAN do exceptionally well. Do more of THOSE.

Every loss has a lesson. Learn the lesson or be prepared to retake the test.  Whatever you do, don’t stay down. Seek to be “your greatest.” You may be tired, but you haven’t expired.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

6 Responses to “Victory Is Sweet”

  1. Cristina Andreescu says:

    Great lesson, Dan, as always. Thank you for everything! You are one of the most inspiring person I’ve ever met.

  2. Dawn Smith-Henry says:

    Powerful reminder..thanks Dan. You are so consistent with your encouragement. I truly value your posts.

  3. “You have to believe in yourself and your dreams. If you don’t believe in you, how can you possibly expect anyone else to?”

    Yes, this time around I am going to stay in the ring until………………..