“A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.” – Larry Bird
Tell me…is there anyone you know who doesn’t like winners?
There is something about finishing at the top that serves as constant motivation for us. Personally, I get totally inspired by winners. I study their lives and research their success, so as to glean something from them to help me along the course of my life.
I mean, let’s be honest. How many of us like to finish last or even second? How many of us celebrate the person who didn’t finish first or the team that didn’t win?
I would venture to say…None of us do. But, isn’t that the whole point of competition and pursuing our goals? We should always strive to win and finish first. At least that is how I view the world when it comes to competition and winning. But you also have to set realistic goals, work hard and come ready and prepared, if you truly want to compete and win.
I know I want to win and finish number one in everything I do, but if you are a true competitor, then competition will always bring out the best in you. Competition forces you to accept direct challenges and rise to the occasion when called upon, with no fear or reservation.
I find competition, both directly and indirectly, to be a wonderful thing. Competition not only exposes the slackers we come across in this game called life, but it also challenges those who haven’t proven themselves before, to step up their game and show you what they really are about.
That means you have to work hard and be prepared when the time comes to compete – regardless of the situation or issue.
Competition is healthy and we need the challenge of competition if we really want to grow. Weak people spend more time worrying about their competitors, instead of simply competing.
But, I have some questions though. Why do so many people shy away from competition?
You can’t ever be afraid to compete in life, nor can you worry about how people view you as their competition. I remember showing up to an event some time ago as the invited guest of someone, when all of a sudden the person hosting the event came up to me and said that I couldn’t be at the event because I was the “enemy.” At first I was perplexed because I didn’t understand what they meant by me being the “enemy,” but once I stepped back to look at things holistically, I realized that what they really were saying was that they saw me as competition and felt uncomfortable having me there to witness their plans being laid out. I wasn’t offended at all.
Listen…when it comes to dealing with your competition, you must always use wisdom, but you should never be afraid of people trying to steal your ideas and mimic your initiatives, because that will always happen. Imitation is the best form of flattery, as the old idiom goes.
I love competition because at the end of the day I know who God created me to be, and I know the vision God has given me. I’ve had several people attempt to take my ideas and adopt them as their own, only to witness them have little to no success because it wasn’t their vision to begin with. These were just individuals seeking to capitalize someone else’s God-inspired vision, which will never work because if God has called you do something, no one can do it better than you. If God gives you a vision, then trust and believe that God will also give you the provision.
Remember Steve Jobs, founder of Apple? Did you know that after Jobs started Apple and began to grow the business, he was subsequently fired by some of the very people he hired and brought to the table, thinking they could run the company better? Well, at the end of the day, it didn’t work out for that group of individuals, because it wasn’t their vision. They ended up having to bring Jobs back to the company, because it was only his vision that led to the success they had experienced up to that point, and no one else could breathe life into that vision like he could.
As much as they wanted to be Steve Jobs, they couldn’t. The same applies to any of us too. As much as the current occupant of the White House wants to be his predecessor, President Barack Obama, he will never be. As much as someone wants to be Tyler Perry or Oprah Winfrey, there will only be one Tyler Perry and one Oprah Winfrey. As much as someone wants to be Michael Jordan, no one will ever be him. As much as someone wants to be Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci, no one will be able to go down in history as them. And last but not least…as much as someone wants to be Jeffrey L. Boney, there will only be one me…period!
Bottom line is this…as long as my heart is beating and I have breath in my lungs, I’ll forever be a competitor and will always seek to win at whatever I do. Only a real competitor can truly understand where I’m coming from and what I’m saying. Everyone else will just be a spectator.
So let me encourage you today. It’s beyond time to stop being weak, worried and afraid. It’s time to step up to the plate and make your mark in this world.
This game called life will always reveal who the real players are and who the real pretenders are. If you are a competitor, then I’m going to need you to step your game up and leave the pretenders behind.
If not you, then who will win and finish first? As for me, hear me loud and clear when I say…I’m A Winner: Either Join Me or Get Out the Way!
Jeffrey L. Boney serves as Associate Editor and is an award-winning journalist for the Houston Forward Times newspaper. Jeffrey has been a frequent contributor on the Nancy Grace Show and Primetime Justice with Ashleigh Banfield. Jeffrey has a national daily radio talk show called Real Talk with Jeffrey L. Boney, and is a dynamic, international speaker, experienced entrepreneur, business development strategist and Founder/CEO of the Texas Business Alliance. If you would like to request Jeffrey as a speaker, you can reach him at jboney1@forwardtimes.com.