Winning is everything.  After all, it is the reason we compete.  No matter what motivates you to succeed, winning feels good.  Winning strokes our ego.  It is what we anticipate, when we perform at our peak.  Each incremental moment of deliberate practice is fueled by the desire to win.  Every free throw, every wind sprint, every squat, every bench press, every test, every new assignment, every practice, every step is powered by the passion to win.  Winning is the engine of our social Darwinism.  Winners are lauded, extoled, glorified, applauded and put on a pedestal.  Winning affirms your preparation.  It affirms your performance.  It establishes your presumptive place in societal hierarchy.   Most of all, winners are given the opportunity to continue winning.

Winning is the ultimate goal, but what happens after we win.  Do you remember the last championship post game locker room interview?  I remember watching the Miami Heat win the 2012 NBA championship.  Champagne was flying everywhere.  Everybody was dancing, laughing and smiling.  They were doing what is natural for most people.  They were celebrating.  After a great win, it is human nature to celebrate.  But what does the first loser do?  The loser laments the decisions they made.  They think about what they could have done differently.  They think about how they could have done better.  They blame themselves.  I remember watching Lebron James speaking at his basketball camp in San Diego.  He attended the camp after his devastating loss in the NBA championships.  He told the kids how much losing made him want to practice more and work harder. When we lose, we think about how we can get better.  When we lose, we think about how much harder we could have worked.  When we lose, we want to win even more.  For peak performance, being the first loser is far more motivating than being the winner.  Though winning may make us feel good, the bad feelings from losing inspire us to be better.  Losing inspires us to do better.  Losing inspires us to work harder.  It stands to reason that being the first loser may not be as bad as we think.

And what of Lebron James?  He was the first loser in the 2011 NBA Championships and what did he do?  He won two back to back championships in 2012 and 2013!

doc mu