Mount Vernon High School

November 22, 2024 You Say You Wanna Win... But Where's the Proof? Champions are unique and set apart in many ways, but their desire to win isn’t one of them. It’s worth highlighting that rather uncomfortable and inconvenient reality right up front here today, that your desire to win doesn't make you special. In fact, wanting to win makes you exactly like everyone else. In sports, in business, and in life, the desire to win is common. Everyone wants it. What separates the champion - what makes them unique - is their willingness to do what winning requires. Champions have come to accept a number of rather uncomfortable and inconvenient realities, including the fact that desire alone isn’t enough. They know it's not what they want that sets them apart. It's what they choose to do. That willingness to put their desire into action provides something everyone worthy of winning possesses - in sports, in business, and in life. It provides the proof. We live in a society that has in many ways made evidence optional. It’s become easier than ever to say whatever you want, even with little or no proof to support it. Say it loudly and frequently enough, and over time you actually start to believe it. Maybe you even convince other people to believe it. That's a dangerous and delusional approach for anyone, including and maybe especially those of us who say we want to win in some important area of life. In any winning pursuit, evidence is essential. Today I want to challenge you to stop and evaluate not just your desire to win, but more importantly, the evidence that verifies it. What is it you can point to as the proof that you’re willing to do what winning requires? There is more than one kind of proof you can provide. The first kind of proof is public proof. This is the evidence that's obvious and observable to anyone who chooses to watch you go about your business. It’s something specific a coach, a boss, a teammate, or a co-worker could point at to validate your desire. There are all kinds of choices you can make and all kinds of behavior you can exhibit to provide this kind of proof. Showing up early or staying late is proof. Going above and beyond the minimum expectation for your performance is proof. Accepting more than your share of the responsibility when something goes wrong is proof. So is giving away more than your share of the credit when things go right. Accepting critical, unwelcome, or even negative feedback because you know it can help you get better is proof. Supporting and encouraging others, even when things aren't going the best for you is proof. Those are only a few of the choices you can make that establish that evidence, and that validate for anyone watching that you're willing to do what winning requires. *Stop and think about your last 24 hours. Where is some public proof of your desire to win? The other kind of proof is private proof. This is the evidence that no one else ever sees or celebrates, but that you've chosen to make a part of your commitment anyway. Every day the champion makes these kind of choices - choices that don’t get any public praise, but that validate internally that they are in fact the kind of person winning requires them to be. It could be exhibiting some high level self-discipline. It could be responding to a difficult or challenging circumstance with purpose and resolve. It could be simply choosing to step in the arena and compete, even when no one else is around to witness it. Again, there are an endless number of ways to provide this proof. Public proof is important because it clarifies your commitment for others to see, but private proof is important, too. It builds your self-confidence and confirms to the most important person - yourself - who you are and what you’re really all about. *Stop and think about your last 24 hours. Where is some private proof of your desire to win? Today the question I’m asking is not, do you want to win? Today the question I’m asking is, where’s the proof? Becoming a champion in any area of life - including the areas that are most important to you - requires you to accept that wanting it isn’t enough. It's your commitment to doing what champions do, both publicly and privately, that sets you apart. That's what makes you unique, and what validates, for yourself and for others, that you’re willing to do more than just say you want to win. It validates that you are someone willing to prove it. -Travis