A lot of great coaches will use the phrase, "play to win", and the team will know exactly what that means. "Play to win" is a coach telling his or her team, to not give up or let up, regardless of what the scoreboard says. For example, in a basketball game, if a team is up by 10 points with 4 minutes to go, that coach is telling his or her team, not to let up and give the other team a chance to win. If a team is down by 20, the coach is telling his or her team to not give up and do not go down without a fight.
Throughout my basketball playing career, I have been a part of programs that established a winning culture. When I was in 5th grade, my club team went 15-0 in the regular season, we finished overall 22-1, with that one loss coming in a championship game. My emotions got the best of me because even though we had a great season, the feeling of a loss hit my heart. When I watched Lakers games, I would cry if they lost, because I just did not like losing.
At Centennial, I was a part of 93 wins and at The University of New Mexico I was a part of 103 wins. So winning has been a part of my culture and it always will be. Winning is not easy and does not just apply to sports. Having a winning attitude will help you succeed in whatever you do, but it does take a lot of hard work and a lot of intelligence.
So when you are playing this game of life, play to win the game of life. I know everybody has a dream or a goal they want to accomplish. Usually this dream or goal is developed in our minds and hearts when we are really young. But as we get older, we get people around us that are going to tell us that it is very unlikely that we can become who we want to become. Even family members tell us things that discourage us from achieving our dreams. Should you have back up plans? Of course, but do not turn those back up plans into your primary plan.
Usually when teams are up by 10 with 4 minutes to go, they play to keep a lead instead of playing to win. Meaning they are playing conservative, they are trying to run out the clock, and they go away from the game plan that was working to get them the lead. When you put your back up plan ahead your primary plan, you are going away from what was working for you, you are playing to keep a lead. When you play to keep a lead, the other team will have a better chance to come back and win. When you get older, you may realize your dream is foolish or unrealistic. I know that as I got older, playing in the NBA was getting more and more unlikely. One thing I never did, was lose sight of that dream. Because even though I did not achieve my goal of playing in the NBA, striving to get there and working hard, got my to great place. I was starting to think that I was not going to even play college basketball, but I continued to work hard and sure enough I was blessed with a great opportunity to be a part of a Top 25 Division I basketball team. I have gained opportunities and learning experiences that will help me develop a career.
Now that my basketball playing career is over, does not mean I am going to stop playing to win. It is in my blood, the coaches that I have had, have built me to have a winning attitude that I cannot shake. Even when I play pick up games, I still play hard and play to win because I do not know any other way. When I am offered a job or a task, I do it with a winning attitude and I teach people around me on how to develop a winning attitude. Because if you play this game of life like you are playing to keep a lead, the enemy, the opposing team, will come back and beat you. You do not want to regret not trying to achieve your dream. I have no regrets of falling short of my dream because I have done everything I possibly could have done them with the best of my ability. My new dream is to walk up and down the sidelines in The Pit as a coach, I picture it constantly of leading a team to a championship, to give all of my players a winning attitude, just like my coaches gave me. So now, I have to constantly work hard and do everything I can to get to that position. People are going to tell me I cannot do it, just like how people told me I could not survive 4 years on a college team. But they are not going to phase my strive to achieve my goal.
Keep this in mind...When you strive to get a "C" grade because you think the class is too hard and you just want to pass, what will happen if you fall short of that grade? You get a "D" or an "F" and you do not pass the class. But if you strive to get an "A" and you fall short of that grade, you get a "B" or a "C" and still pass. Also, if you strive for an "A", you most likely get an "A"! I strove to play in the NBA, but I fell short of that and I played Division I basketball. You do not necessarily need a back up plan, your back up plan is when you fall short of your primary plan. And most likely, when you fall short of your dream, you are not going to be too far off from being successful.
Again, do not play to keep a lead, play to win the game. Do not make your back up plan, your primary plan.
Thank you for reading! I hope this article helps or at least gets you thinking of how to develop a winning attitude!
Chris Perez
#PlayToWin
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