From the South

By Andrew Hawes, PM — Jr. Warden

The countdown has begun!  Only three monthly trestleboard articles left from yours truly, since I am shifting out of the chairs that require it each month.  Looking back, I will have written a total of 48 articles, which seems like a small number, but feels at times like a Herculean task.  But I digress.  The purpose of my article this month is to discuss “winning” versus “losing.”

It’s always been my personal philosophy that there are many measurements of success.  When playing a game, for example, my motto is "if everyone has had fun, then everyone has won."  Its not about earning the 1st place finish for me, its about enjoying the attempt.  This applies to many things in life.  If you enjoy driving, that morning commute can be a plus to your day.  If you like taking walks, is it a chore to walk your dog?  If you get pleasure from working out (and no, i do not join you in that category!) then it doesnt matter if you can bench more than the person on the next bench. 

For some people, winning is everything.  This can lead to them being more succesful at many things... but are they happier about it?  If they win 90% of the time, they seem to focus on the 10% of "failures" and be unhappy, striving to beat the odds.  Pushing yourself to succeed doesn't, in my mind, mean always being unable to accept that you aren't the strongest, fastest, or smartest in the room.  You might only provide moral support to your team, and they might not win the competition, but they can still feel successful after the attempt, learning and growing, earning the warm glow of camraderie and shared effort, despite not being victorious.

If you make that your personal win condition, you can win, 

...even when you don't.

Choose your goals to be achievable, achieve them, and be happy about it.