Monday Mindset: The Man in the Arena
Happy Monday!
It seemed like New Year’s just happened, yet there have already been a few big events in the early part of 2020 which has really got me thinking…. These include the news of the late Kobe Bryant’s passing, the Superbowl, and the Oscars, all within a mere 2 weeks.
One thing is common is that these headlines/events are undoubtedly showcasing excellence. And as my business mentor and now business partner Bedros K. says, “The Market Place Only Rewards Excellence.”
Harsh but true, and why true excellence is what shows up the headlines. As the free market, with it’s competition and all, is one of the reason’s that has made our nation so great and what attracts our attention.
But whether you actually achieve excellence or not, shouldn’t or won’t be the way you judge yourself or life in the end….
The truth is, that much of life is out of your control. Sometimes the ball bounces your way, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes you get the break, sometimes you don’t. You might win an NBA Championship, Superbowl or an Oscar, but chances are that you probably won’t.
It can be unfair, but that’s life.
In the end, the important question you will ask yourself when looking back on your life; won’t be whether you actually achieved excellence or not.
It will be….. “Did I give it everything I had; did I give 100% effort? Did I have the courage to pursue excellence?”.
Only you will know, but I truly believe your answer to this question will dictate your feeling of “fulfillment” or “regret”.
This is why the late Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” poem below is so special to me and one of my favorites.
So today my call to action is to PURSUE excellence. Give everything you have to whatever you put your mind to! Leave no stone unturned and give it your absolute all, 100% maximum effort! No excuses. And whether you actually achieve it or not is secondary.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt
