How to Win

I have completed two Ironman distance triathlons, Wisconsin in 15:39 and Boulder in 12:35. At the surface it would be easy to say that Boulder is the one I should be the most proud of.

Ironman Wisconsin means more to me, than any other race I have done this far, it changed my life. I raced with two amazing individuals, Aaron Hunnel and Katie Neuman. Aaron and I had the amazing privilege of racing with Katie who has cerebral palsy.

Ironman Wisconsin changed my mindset on what it truly means to win.

Winning versus the want to win. I used to play video games against myself just so I could win. It never required me to be better. Everyone loves to win, not as many love, wanting to win. What I mean by that is, the people that truly have the desire to win, practice as much as they can, they put in the work, the long hours and have the drive to be the best because they know that winning is an outcome. This is where we as a society have it wrong. We want an absolute, did you win or did you lose because this is hard data, that lets us judge where you stand. We do not spend enough time focusing on the path that was taken to get there and this goes beyond athletics and into your personally and professional life as well. Stop measuring the wins you have and start to build up your want to win, you will get further faster.

Trophies, medals and titles are all meant to tell the world how great you are and beg for others to give you their approval. Why is it important to win, why is it important to prove that you are the best and better than everyone else? Stop competing against the world and start competing against yourself. When you let the world determine your value, you have no value.

Winning is typically a single quantitative outcome. We focus on getting the trophy so much that we forget what else we can learn on race day. The pain that we experience and the attitude we must embrace to overcome it, will get you further in life than a trophy ever will. Having the opportunity to compete and being a part of the race is an incredible feeling. When we just focus on the win, we miss all of the other lessons that life has to teach us both during a race and in life. I have no argument against wanting to be the best and dominate but do not forget to learn along the way.