The Champion & The Underdog

Compete like the champion, train like the underdog.
As funny as it sounds, I saw this quote on the back of a guy's shirt. I am still researching the origination, and will update this blog if I can find the author... For now - I loved it and thought it would be a great concept to think about...

Compete Like The Champion
This advice is good whether you are in a marathon, weight loss program, or just going through your everyday life tasks...

Live your life as if you have prepared your best and there is no reason why you won't come out victorious, in every effort. When you believe you will come out on top, chances are, you will. When you believe you won't, well, chances are, you won't. There is an incredible power to the belief the mind holds.

I think back to a wish I worked on granting for a wishkid that had a rare form of cancer. He had wanted to go to a Dallas Cowboys Football game and despite getting sicker, he was holding out for his game. Every day I went to go visit him, no matter how sick he had become, he told me he was making it to his wish. As he got sicker, the doctors said that he would not be able to travel for the game and we would have to cancel his wish. I promised him we would do our best to bring the Cowboys to him. Shortly after this, he fell into a coma, and the doctors said it would be 'hours'. We let the Cowboys know of his wish and within a day, they had sent a box of gifts and letters. I took the box to the hospital and asked his family to open it, in front of him. Despite him being in a coma, every time they read a letter, his heart rate would increase. We knew he was happy. That evening, my wishkid passed away. He had exceed the doctor's predictions by a few days. I am quite certain, he was waiting for his wish. He believed it would come, and held on until it did. As my mentor, Mr. Larson has always said, 'what the mind and heart believes, the body achieves.' When you want it and believe you can have it, you will.

Train Like The Underdog
What if you knew you were up for a big promotion, but the person you were up against had more experience and qualifications for the job than you did? You would do all you could to put your best foot forward, highlight how your passion is stronger than you competitor's qualifications and you would dive into all you could to better position yourself than your competitor. Consider the Olympic athletes that come into a race, the underdog, and have an absolute upset by winning it all? They trained knowing they would have to bring out more than the person who was expected to win. The person who expected to win, took it for granted and forgot that they too, needed to train as if they were the underdog.

What if you could look at your life 'training' as if you were the underdog? Would you take less for granted and focus more on rising above the things that keep you from achieving what you want? Would you lead with more hope, more focus and more commitment to overcoming your obstacles?

Compete like the champion, train like the underdog. This makes a powerful combination of effort and drive that makes you unstoppable. And we all want to be unstoppable. Perhaps this is one of the secrets to getting all that you want.

How bad do you want it and how much are you willing to work to get it? Anything is possible. It's up to you to believe.