Hall of Fame Coach Vince Lombardi was quoting Red Sanders, former UCLA Bruin football coach, and usually liked to revise it by concluding “the will to win is the only thing.”  That quote resonates with most competitive athletes and business leaders.

No one risks it all, pushes through the pain, or puts in the extra effort just to come in second.  Certainly there is virtue to competing honorably even if one fails to take the trophy.  Sports journalist Grantland Rice penned an equally well known perspective when he wrote that it is “not that you won or lost but how you played the game.”

As a parent, I have used that sentiment as a word of encouragement for a son or daughter walking off the field of competition on the losing side in spite of their best effort and model sportsmanship.  But at the core, they knew and I knew that winning does matter.

Winning is everything but the challenge is to understand what the ultimate competition really is.  It is more than a Super Bowl ring, or first place in the Boston Marathon or a gold medal at the Olympics. 

The ultimate competition is not being better than someone else but being the very best that you can be. Winning, for the purpose of this discussion, is defined as discovering your purpose and potential, living to the fullness of your potential, fulfilling your unique mission. Excelling in this ultimate competition is the result of winning within, winning with others and winning results.

It is possible to achieve temporary wins in one arena and yet fail miserably in another.  The headlines are replete with stories of celebrities, politicians, entrepreneurs and athletes who have crashed and burned after meteoric success.

This ultimate competition, rightly understood and honorably pursued, is unique in that everyone actually does have the potential to win. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people seldom define winning in this way.  Even fewer actually pursue this prize. 

Winning within, winning with others and winning results is the mission to which we are committed.  In this competition, winning is everything!