Make no mistake: winning matters. If anyone claims that winning doesn’t matter, then chances are they have never won, are not in a position to win currently, and will never win. It’s about winning. It’s all about winning. And I’m not necessarily talking about taking home a prize. I’m talking about BEING a winner; about having the mindset of a champion.

The more we preach that it’s not about winning, the more we breed a state of mediocrity in our kids and in our society. The art of truly winning at all aspects of life is about maintaining a consistent process of excellence upon which one’s identity and character develop. Passion for winning – for being the very best you can be at whatever you put your head, heart, and hands to do – creates a sense of gritty determination that leads to contentment through the exhaustion that is created when one fights to win in an admirable manner.

Athletics are a venue through which we can teach student-athletes how to be awesome at life. How to create a vision, to commit to a process, to work, to grind, to sacrifice, to communicate, to deal with adversity, to learn through failure – that is, to win. Winning matters, because all of these things are elements of winning, and these are the things needed to be powerful and positive leaders on our teams, in our homes, and in our communities.

So don’t be afraid to win or to pursue winning. It is through this pursuit that habits of excellence are created and thereby replicated for a constant state of improvement and growth;a constant state of winning.