Quotes about Winning
The Win Within: Capturing Your Victorious Spirit [Book]
Book Overview: As an orthopedic surgeon, a finish-line physician, and a USA team doctor at the World Cup and the Olympics, Dr. Bert Mandelbaum has witnessed the trials and triumphs of elite athletes from a vantage point few of us get. And over his twenty-plus years of experience, he’s identified a common character trait that every elite athlete relies upon for success: it’s what he calls the ”victorious spirit.” In The Win Within, Mandelbaum reveals that any of us–no matter our age or physical condition–can capture that same spirit in our own lives. This inner drive to win resides in all of us, he argues, hardwired into our DNA by ancestry dating back millions of years. You’ll learn how to view life the way a top-performing athlete does: relentlessly, tenaciously, positively, and focusing less on the finish line of the marathon and more on the 26.2 miles that precede it. With narrative support ranging from the lessons of our early ancestors to Mandelbaum’s stories of our modern-day gladiators (both household name and lesser known), The Win Within will give you a greater understanding of how and why we’re all hardwired to win–and you’ll come away with no shortage of tactics and motivation to capture your own victorious spirit.
“If I lived only for the major, newsworthy milestones, I’d be miserable. Instead, I focused on small wins and created an alternative way to measure success and happiness: know what you’re good at and what you like doing, and spend as much of your workday doing exactly that.”
Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 168)
“The will to win is wasted if it is directed towards trivial affairs.”
James Clear, Blog
“If you’re always right, you’re not learning. If you’re never failing, you’re not reaching. The objective is to be right. The objective is to succeed. But if you’re always winning, you’re undershooting your potential.”
James Clear, Blog
“There’s a phrase out there that says, ‘Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn.’ I can’t stand that phrase. And the reason I can’t stand that phrase is because it implies two things. It implies that you can’t learn from winning. Like you win or you learn? No, you can learn a lot from winning. Success leaves clues. What it also implies, losing is some word that no one says of, ‘Oh, I didn’t lose. I learned.’ No, you lost. Own it. You lost, you got beat today, and that’s life you’re going to lose sometimes. And instead of flowering it up and saying, “No, no, I didn’t lose. I just ran out of time. I didn’t lose.” No, you lost.”
Justin Su’a, via Farnam Street Blog
“The person who gets 1 shot needs everything to go right. The person who gets 1000 shots is going to score at some point. Find a way to play the game that ensures you get a lot of shots.”
James Clear, Blog
“What’s the point of winning at sports but losing in the effort to be a good husband, wife, father, mother, son, or daughter? Let’s not confuse getting better at stuff with being a better person. One is a much bigger priority than the other.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 315)
“In order to achieve victory, one must dedicate every second and every resource into preparation and training. LeBron James doesn’t take a summer break—he uses it to work on other aspects of his game. The U.S. military trains its soldiers day and night when not at war, in preparation for when they have to go to war; when they do go to war, they fight until it’s over. The same is true for us. We can’t do this life thing halfheartedly.”
Ryan Holiday, via The Daily Stoic (Page 265)
“One of the most fundamental principles of martial arts is that strength should not go against strength. That is: don’t try to beat your opponent where they are strongest. But that’s exactly what we do when we try to undertake some impossible task we haven’t bothered to think through. Or we let someone put us on the spot. Or we say yes to everything that comes our way.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 247)
“The infinite game is the game we play to play, not to win. The infinite game is a catch in the backyard with your four-year-old son. You’re not trying to win catch; you’re simply playing catch. The most important parts of our lives are games that we can’t imagine winning.”
Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 167)
“Competition is for losers.”
Peter Thiel, Medium
“The agony of defeat is as low as the joy of winning is high. However, they’re the exact same to me. I’m at the gym at the same time after losing 50 games as I am after winning a championship. It doesn’t change for me.”
Kobe Bryant, Mamba Mentality (Page 195)
The Mamba Mentality [Book]
Book Overview: In the wake of his retirement from professional basketball, Kobe “The Black Mamba” Bryant decided to share his vast knowledge and understanding of the game to take readers on an unprecedented journey to the core of the legendary “Mamba mentality.” Citing an obligation and an opportunity to teach young players, hardcore fans, and devoted students of the game how to play it “the right way,” The Mamba Mentality takes us inside the mind of one of the most intelligent, analytical, and creative basketball players ever. In his own words, Bryant reveals his famously detailed approach and the steps he took to prepare mentally and physically to not just succeed at the game, but to excel. Readers will learn how Bryant studied an opponent, how he channeled his passion for the game, how he played through injuries. They’ll also get fascinating granular detail as he breaks down specific plays and match-ups from throughout his career.
Buy from Amazon! Not on Audible…
Not enough time to read entire books? Check out Blinkist and get the key insights from popular nonfiction books in a fraction of the time. ‘Busy’ isn’t an excuse.
Post(s) Inspired by This Book:
- 24 Motivating Kobe Bryant Quotes from The Mamba Mentality on Work Ethic, Mindset, and Greatness
- Kobe Bryant Quote on Keeping Calm and Centered in Basketball and in Life (Beyond the Quote 226/365)
- Kobe Bryant Quote on Work Ethic and How He Stuck To His Routine Even On The Busiest Days (Beyond the Quote 217/365)