We are nearing the end of the “Bowling for Dollars” season. What am I referring to has nothing to do with pins, alleys, strikes or spares. It is about a plethora of college football bowl games. Some are the best teams in the country jousting to see who is best. Some are just an extra game funded by the magic of television.

I am clear that the probability of what I have to say making any difference is slim to none. I just see the “bowling season” as a symptom of the continuing plunge to mediocrity that we continue to point our children toward. How can we reward a bowl game to a 5-7 team and a 6-6 team? What is this crazy man talking about?

We are in the mode that we get an award for “showing up.” What happened to our pursuit of excellence? Competition is about someone being better than someone else. Winning is not the “end all-be all.” It is about not settling for less than our best, win or lose. Sometimes the competition is just better than you that day. The action you have available is to ask,”What did I learn?” then given what I learned, “What action can I take?”

It is my experience that my athletes never learned much from winning. They really learned from adversity. They learned from losing. One thing being that they don’t like it. The purpose of any competition is to declare a winner and a loser. There is always someone who can be better than us on a given day. The important thing is to bring the best you have to every practice and every event. Passion, enthusiasm, integrity, support, and yes, love.

Why do anything half-assed? Why reward anyone for just showing up? Life has problems, issues and concerns. How are we going to learn to bounce back? The only failure in life is to not get up and go again. Do what we say we are going to do and cleaning it up when we don’t.

Bottom Line … it is your life. Do not expect or allow anyone to live your life for you. You have one life to live. Live fully without regret. Be who you say you are.

Don’t forget …
Check the Coaching Bookstore for some great reading about what works to play life at the highest level. You deserve that.