I once heard a great basketball coach speaking in front of a few thousand people and he asked a question that I’ll never forget.
The huge room was silent – nobody wanted to miss a word. And then he asked, “What’s the difference between a win and a loss?”
After a moment of silence people started shouting out answers.
The coach responded to each answer as he heard them.
“Good defense!” someone screamed.
“Defense helps a lot, but it’s not the difference,” said the coach.
Another yell, “Rebounding!”
Another answer, “Rebounding is important, and can help you a lot, but that’s not I’m talking about.”
After a few more shouts that were off the mark, the coach relented and just told all of us what he was thinking of.
“The difference between a win and a loss is pretty simple. Don’t complicate it. It’s just one point.”
That exchange has stuck with me because so much of what I have experienced in life has come down to small moments. Such small things separate winning and losing, success and failure. Sometimes it’s scary to think of how many failures I might have had if one thing had been different. But even more scary is how many successes I might have had if I tried one more time, if I spent just a few more hours, if I made one more phone call, if I stayed up just a little later.
Really, the difference between success and failure comes down to one of something.
Anybody know who the coach was…?
7 Comments
Tom Izzo?
Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.
- George Eliot
I would have to guess that the answer is Jim Valvano?
Good stuff John keep up the good work
Love the post John. I have to say, I’ve been on the losing end of that one point and it doesn’t feel good. Your post really inspired me today and I’m going to put some extra effort into my actions. I’d like to be more of a winner than a loser in the game of life
Great to see you in Florida!
Yep. It’s Tom Izzo. Gotta love it.
Wow, that’s a great little blog article. I was simply doing a search on google for “what is the difference between winning and losing” and your article came up. It’s exactly on point. It’s the small things done over time that cause you to win or lose. Failure doesn’t come b/c of one big compromise, but many small compromises, piled one on top of another over time. Great article. Can I ask, what is this blog used for?
Hi Adam. This blog is a way for me to share my thoughts on business, marketing, filmmaking, and technology. Thanks for the nice comment and stop by anytime. More great content to come!
The best comment I heard was from a well known sports psychologist who said “many people think that the difference between winning and losing is huge. It’s not! the difference between winning and losing is tiny. The consequences are huge!!” He then went on to give many examples of the finest margins between winning and losing and showed pictures of the winners and losers.