The competitive bidding process, sporting events, reality TV, job opportunities and more.  All these things have something in common – a winner and a loser.  Our culture teaches us that in most things we do, someone wins and someone loses. The victory only belongs to one person or team.

I used to think like that.  Then I realized how much I was missing focusing on the prize, the win, the victory.  It really is about the journey and not the destination.  I believe that real victory comes from playing the game when you play to learn and not necessarily to win.

If you are nearing the half century mark, or older, can probably remember the ABC Wide World of Sports Commercial with the infamous words “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport! The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.”

• The thrill of victory – being excited because you are the winner.
• The agony of defeat – the pain of being the loser.

Is this really what life is about?  I think it comes down to this …

• The thrill of victory – finding satisfaction from your hard work paying off and producing results.
• The agony of defeat – the frustration that all your hard work did not provide the outcome you were looking for.

I find myself questioning the real value in riding the emotional roller coaster of victory and defeat.  Remember that guy who said; “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”  Well he had it almost right.  I don’t think “how you play the game” is enough.  I think it comes down to what you learn from playing the game.

John Maxwell will be releasing his 74th book “Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn” in early October and the focus of the book – losing.  Oh, did I say losing?  Well that’s what some of you call it when you fail.  This book is really about winning – winning by learning from your failures and maintaining a positive attitude while doing it.

You have three choices.  You can win, you can lose, or you can learn.  You see, you don’t have to lose any more. Although I am looking forward to John’s new book, I don’t need to read it to know that learning is better than losing. What it really comes down to is how I respond the the things I struggle with in my life.

I can be defeated or I can push through, get as close to “winning” as possible and learn from how I fell short so that I might improve next time.  For me, it is really about growing. With the right attitude, we can grow more from our failures than we can from our successes.

I know that if I continue to grow everyday, through the good and the bad, I will succeed.  John was asked what topic his new book falls under – leadership?  personal growth?  communication?  His response – “attitude.”

This book is about attitude and when our attitude reflects our desire to learn and grow, we are much more likely to actually learn from our mistakes rather than let them keep us down or hold us back.

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take the rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory not defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Life is much bigger than one single victory or win.  We can learn every day and more importantly, we can learn even from the things we fail at.

My question today will require a little thinking on your part.  What would you do if you knew you could not fail?  And here is the challenge; DO IT!

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SAVE THE DATE:  On October 10th, John will be doing a WEBCAST to teach from his new book and introduce the Maxwell Leadership Assessment.  CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE WEBCAST

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Barry Smith    9/21/13   photo by author   © Building What Matters 2013