Thursday, July 20, 2006

Winning Isn't the Goal

As a comment on a post by Kendall Harmon here, I thought of this:

When I was in High School in Atwater California, I was on the High School Debate Team (Surprise! :) )

The coach had a huge number of trophies surrounding his classroom because his teams used to be the best and they knew it. Then he read a book titled "They Call Me Coach" that taught him that winning isn't the goal. Winning is a byproduct of doing your best. After he put that in practice, the teams didn't win as much, but they were better debaters and better people and he was much more loved as a coach and teacher.

I have tried to put that philosphy to work in my life. Winning is not the goal. Whether winning is defined by profits, converts, material wealth, grades, or any other measure of success; winning is not the goal. The goal is to do your best. When you do your best, you will win. You may not have the most or be "Number 1," but you will be a much better person and much better at life in general than if you make the measure to be the goal.

YBIC,
Phil Snyder

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

No comment on this post. Just wanted to say I'm glad you've got your own blog. I've enjoyed your comments on T19.

Is your father Al Snyder? In any case, we hope to see Father Al in church this Sunday.

Charming Billy

plsdeacon said...

Yes, CB, my dad is Fr. Al Snyder.

I've visited St. Andrew's in San Antonio on several occassions - the last being Memorial Day weekend when we baptized two girls and my brother-in-law was the other priest. I was the deacon.

YBIC,
Phil Snyder