4 MIN READ

It was the leap of the Century. He played to win and did not invite fear.

We are back in 1968 at the Olympic Games in Mexico City in the middle of a track and field competition watching long jump. Long-jump is one of track and field’s two horizontal jumping events in which competitors sprint along a runway and jump as far as possible into a sandpit from a take-off board. The distance traveled from the edge of the board to the closest indentation in the sand to it is measured to see who jumps the farthest! (See Fig.1)

It was at this Olympics that Bob Beamon made history, but not at first. He did his first jump and disqualified himself by taking off after the starting line. He did his second jump and also disqualified himself. In long jump, you only get 3 jumps before you are completely eliminated from the event.

Let’s put ourselves in his shoes for just a second. In this moment, he was under a lot of pressure that we can all relate to even if we haven’t competed at the Olympics before. Most of us have been stared down by a big, intimidating goal and thought to ourselves, “I really can’t afford to screw this up. I can’t mess up. I have to do well or else I’ll lose everything I’ve worked so hard for.” And that is what I call playing not to lose. 

There’s a distinction: We can play to win or we can listen to the fear-filled voices between our two ears and play to lose.

This is when things took a turn for the better. Ralph Boston, Beamon’s teammate, encouraged him to “take off early”.

His last attempt to jump was beyond anything that had ever been done before. He actually jumped so far that his jump was beyond the limit of the measuring equipment and Beamon set a world record of 8.90 meters (29.2 feet) at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. The new record surpassed the existing mark by an astounding 55 cm (21.65 inches) and stood for 23 years, but the key was that he took off early. He jumped well before the starting line, which most athletes wouldn’t dare to do, because the earlier you jump, the less is measured and put towards your final distance and score.

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I’m using this story as an example of playing to win and taking a massive leap of faith (pun intended!) and not playing out of a fear that we could potentially lose at something.

Let’s focus more on the idea of getting fear out of our way so we can play to win. If we get fear out of our way, we will enjoy the journey even more and break records even if it’s just surprising ourselves with the goals we reach!

MY PLAY TO WIN STORY

I can relate to Beamon’s story on a personal level. Not much to the record long-jumping and crazy athleticism, but to the difference made from a simple mental shift away from fear and towards faith and growth. My mission statement with the @bestyoucanb podcast is to inspire confidence through leadership and wellness. Most of the podcast is leadership-heavy, although we have woven in some wellness topics with guests. But mostly, my “inspiring confidence through wellness” mission is pursued through a direct sales business. I genuinely love it, and it actually taught me this lesson: There is growth just like any business, and where there is growth, there are always goals that precede the growth whether it is to new levels or a promotion. 

A few years ago, I was at a senior level with my company that I was barely hanging onto. I was in a crazy busy season of life, had surgery, moved to a different place, and my business took a small toll.

So instead of building my business to grow, reach more people, and change more lives, my mindset turned more to focus on just maintaining and just hanging on. My only goal was to keep my title and I never dreamt beyond that. 

Eventually, I lost that level, title, the promotion became a demotion and I was devastated, but only for a split second. I very quickly realized I had been playing not to lose. I was on the defensive instead of a positivity-filled offensive!

Now, I’m so much happier. The freedom I feel is unparalleled and the genuine love I have for what I do on the wellness side of things has been totally restored.

Why? Because I’m in it for the growth and for the lives I’ll get to change along the way, not to lose something at superficial as a title.

TAKE OFF EARLY

This is a tricky thing to look into because fear is written all over this issue. For a lot of people, it comes down to a fear of failure when they are playing it safe mentally.

This key mentality shift towards having a growth mindset and having nothing to lose can create some really important things. It will open new doors for you opportunity-wise, because you’ll naturally be more adventurous and want to put yourself out there to attract those opportunities. But also: Increased creativity and innovation will follow suit and so will motivation. The ideas for your business will flow more naturally. The creative part of your brain will be flourishing with that extra breathing room, and who doesn’t want to be naturally more innovative? The motivation piece increases because you’re looking forward now instead of just looking two feet in front of you.

When Beamon was scared of being sent home without even having the chance to compete, his teammate encouraged him and told him to “take off early.” He told Beamon to jump well before the starting line for the jumps that he kept on accidentally stepping over and disqualifying himself from.

What if we do the same? What if we trust the next leap of faith we need to take?

Tell the fear of failure to “be quiet!” and look at things from more abundant eyes. Get excited about the creativity, innovation, and motivation to follow and get excited about a much more enjoyable and impactful journey.

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Do you have any areas in your life where you’re playing not losing and being in a defensive mindset?

Let me know in the comments below, I would love to read about it!

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE!