Prepare to Win

“Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win.” - Bobby Knight

When pushed conversationally far enough, athletes will often say that the ultimate competition is with oneself. Even combat athletes note that mental toughness and the handling of inner voices is crucial when dealing with a direct physical opponent.

All of us working to develop a healthy physical relationship with ourselves come up against some form of inner conflict, or the urge to derail progress via inner dialogue.

To "compete", from its Latin root means,"to strive together" (Thank you Mushtaq Ali for that lesson).

Outer events (and goals) are in fact, inner opportunities to "strive together" with ourselves. Fighting ourselves rarely works, especially in the long term. Progress is made by convincing our doubts to take (at least) a short break and trust us to get the job done well. Getting the voices to either take a rest or join the cause sets the foundation for a breakthrough.

Scheduling time to check-in and take stock of common internal themes allows us to develop a mental strategy for whatever we are working toward. That is preparing to win.

Whatever style of physical relationship we have with ourselves, "striving together", rather than "fighting against", is the way to long-term balanced strength and meaningful outward success.