Is It Worth Winning?

Before you start, ask the question.

When it comes to having the will to win, there is an important question to ask yourself…

Is it worth winning?

There are a multitude of games in life you are going to play or already playing. As part of having the will to win any of those games, you should ask yourself if the game you are playing is worth winning. Do you even want to win?

 Or as Jesus said in Luke 14:28…

“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”

Before you decide to win, you would be wise to count the cost before setting your mind to a purpose.

Most of the time, people don’t count they cost. They don’t consider if it’s a game worth winning. Instead, they go along to get along.

That is foolish.

Not every game is worth winning or even playing.  Not every person loves every game equally. Not every person has the talent to match their ambition. 

Most of all, there are a multitude of games you will never win at no matter what you do. They are unwinnable games.

Is an unwinnable game worth putting your mind to?

Depends on the game and the person.

If you are going to have the will to win at something, you should have some combination of love for the game, desire to improve, and talent enough to be good at it. When those elements come together, it forms a happy feedback loop that can fuel your will to win through the ups and downs of the game. 

Without a positive feedback loop, at some point the game won’t be worth playing, much less winning. We all quit once the game isn’t worth playing.

This isn’t so much advice as an observation. You don’t have to try and win at everything. You don’t even have to play everything. In fact, you can’t play or win every single game. There are too many at the same time everywhere.

Each of us will decide what games we want to play, what games are worth winning, and what games are worth avoiding. Winners seem to focus on fewer games - usually one or two they can be great at and avoid the rest entirely.

If you want to get to that kind of position sooner, ask yourself, “Is it worth winning?” and if the answer is no, don’t commit yourself to the game. And if the game isn’t worth winning, ask yourself “Is it worth playing?”. In some cases, a game is worth playing even if you aren’t going to win or be the best. Some games are just fun and that’s great. Or maybe your version of winning is different than someone else’s version of winning.

Sometimes you will find yourself playing an entirely different game than everyone else. That’s a good thing. The trick is to recognize when you are doing that, and not lose sight of what YOU want to win at. 

Not every game is worth winning, but that decision is always up to you. 

Find what is worthwhile to you and do that thing. Ignore everything else. :-)

-Brian