As we begin our time together, I have a question for you. My friend, are you playing to win? I hope you will give some thought to this question, because it may have more to do with your future than you realize. The question, “are you playing to win” has many different ramifications, because you can play to win in a whole host of things. The definition of a “winner” is, “one who exceeds or beats his or her competition.”

Now, let me pause for a moment and make this statement, because it is the gist of what I am trying to get across to you. Whether it’s in sports, business or any other activity, most people are not playing to win. Instead, they are playing not to lose. For example, how many times have you watched a sporting event, say a basketball or football game, and one team played like gang busters and got ahead, and then something happened? They quit playing to win and started playing “not to lose.” Please allow me to say that again: they quit playing to win and started playing not to lose. In other words, they got too conservative, too soon, and the other team caught up and passed them before time ran out.

At this point I believe you can see a parallel here between a sporting event and the game of life, because the principle involved is the same. If you will look around you, no doubt you will see others who are going through life much the same way. These people are not playing to win. They are playing not to lose. Instead of taking their future into their own hands and deciding a course of action to become a winner, rather they are just plodding along, hoping nothing bad will happen to them. We often hear statements like: “I hope I don’t lose my job” or “I hope I don’t get sick or have an accident.” “I hope.” “I hope.” “I hope.”

Well, what’s the answer? Now, you check me out on this, but there is something I call “the choice of environment” that motivates us to become winners. For the most part, it is left to each of us to decide how we are going to spend our time and with whom we are going to spend it. This is an extreme example, but a few weeks ago a man who lives nearby was sentenced to prison. He will be out in a few months, and his chances of staying out will be much better if he finds some people of better character with whom to spend his time. If he goes back to the same old crowd, his chances of winding up back in prison are pretty good.

As I said, this is an extreme example, but the principle here applies to each of us. Our choice of environment will, to a large degree, determine whether we are a winner or a loser. Here is a question that we should each ask ourselves from time to time, “Am I playing to win?” If you are, then you know how important it is to spend most of your time with winners. Winners think differently and act differently than losers. The great thing is that when we truly become a winner, we can be a role model or good example for many people who are on the fence and have not deliberately made those fateful choices we all make sooner or later.

I would like to leave you with something I discovered many years ago that has helped me over some rough spots. It is called “This is the Beginning of a New Day,”and was written by Dr. Heartsill Wilson. It begins: “This is the beginning of a new day. This day is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes this day is gone, it will be gone forever. Therefore, I want it to be gain and not loss, good and not evil, and success and not failure, in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it.”

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(Editor’s Note: For a personally signed copy of my new book ‘Your Future Begins Today’ send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)