Run to Win

Life is a race and we are expected not only to run but to win. We are destined to win as God did not program any person to lose. We lose either because we are not willing to run or we are not putting in our best to win.

In their book: Positive Mental Attitude, William Clementstone and Napoleon Hill narrated the story of a thorough-bred horse. The horse was groomed for horse-race and its performance was outstanding. People were already predicting that the horse was going to have a clear victory over another horse that had remained the undisputed champion.

A day came when they presented the two horses in a horse-race to determine the champion.

The duo took off on a sound note, neck for neck and stamina for stamina. As the race progressed, the thorough-bred horse almost about to leave the current champion behind, had a mishap and nearly stumbled. It was a bad break, for it affected its speed. The other horse took advantage of this and won the race.

The defeat was a devastating blow to the potential champion, for it never had the mindset to win in subsequent races. 

This story depicts what transpires in our lives from time to time. Life is a race and we are expected to run and win. But it is either we have stopped running or we are running without the mindset to win.

Now, what can we do to run and win in the race of life? Below are three steps you can take to win in the game of life.

1.  Strive to Run and Win

In the game of life, everyone is running, but not everyone is winning. However, this is not God’s will for our lives. God expects us not only to run but to win. You are not just created to live a bare existence. God did not create you just to eat, drink and be merry only. Life is much more than that. God expects us to live life to the fullest. And to live life to the fullest, we must be the best that God wants us to be.

Mediocrity is not part of God’s plan for our lives. We must therefore shun mediocrity.  Abundant life is not the exclusive preserve of a privileged few; abundant life is for all.

So, if you have not made it yet, it doesn’t mean that you are destined to remain the way you are; it only means that your time to succeed has not come and that you must wait patiently for your time of success.

Strive, not just to live but to live life to the fullest. Be the best that God wants you to be. Let the life you live manifest the glory of God. Abundant life begins when you start touching lives with what God has blessed you with – money, knowledge, skill, experience, talent, time, etc.

2.  Have a positive Mindset

Without a positive mindset, you cannot hope to run and win in the game of life.

More often than not, what keeps people down on the totem pole is their negative mindset. Fear of failure, lack of confidence, discouragement, and despair would not make some people to run, not even to talk of winning.

We are all goal-striving organisms. At all times, we must strive to achieve our goals in life. But to achieve our goals in life, we must have a positive mindset. That is the starting point to running and winning.

If you must achieve the goal you have set for yourself, you have to change your mindset from negative to positive. You have to start believing in your ability to run and win. O yes, you can make it because God has already given you what it takes. You only need to believe that you can make it and star using your God-given abilities.

Get rid of all the negative thoughts in your mind. Fill your mind with the thoughts that you have the ability to succeed like any other person. Hold this positive thought constantly in your mind and get on the running track for a championship race.

3.  Learn to Handle Setbacks

The difference between a champion and a loser is not reall in their ability. In the horse-race story you read above, it is obvious that both horses were very good. They matched speed with speed. The champion horse was not better than the potential champion.

I think what robbed the potential champion of winning was the way it handled the setback. After experiencing the setback in the race, it lost hope and interest in winning.

Doubtless, the horse was a potential champion, but it chose to be a mediocre because of its inability to handle the setback it encountered in the race.

I want to believe that if it were the champion horse that had similar setback, it would still be running and winning. What is the point I am making here? The point is this: learn to handle setbacks. In life, anything can happen at any time. Things can go wrong any time. Sometimes, even when you have put in your best effort, you may not get the desired result.

You don’t have to get discouraged. If you don’t win today, you may win tomorrow. Downfall of a man is not the end of his life. You don’t have any excuse to give for choosing mediocrity. Shun mediocrity. You are a champion yet to be unveiled.

As long as you are alive; as long as you can still reason and think; there is hope. Setbacks are nothing but opportunities for come-backs.

Learn to handle setbacks. When you do, you will remain victorious all your life!