“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” — Wayne Gretzky.
Think about that. Take it outside the ice hockey equation that Gretzky used it on and apply it to anywhere – life, business, relationships, goals. How many are you actually aiming for and how many are you striking out blindly at?
Are you happy with where you are?
Have you reached the plateau that you set for yourself when you took to the playing field? Is your job just satisfying or does it fill your creative needs?
How are you using the tools and the people around you to benefit both parties? Are you playing a team role to attack goal, or are you being selfish with the puck? Do the fans call your name or the team’s? What’s more important?
What are you doing to improve your business? Are you reining it in and hoping that the bad times will pass, or are you thinking of new tactics to confuse the opposition and win new fans? How’s your coach – is he/she a leader or does the team need better guidance?
Wayne Gretzky was a leader on the ice and continues to be one off it as well. His shots were always 100% with intent.
How’s your aim?
photo credit: Håkan Dahlström
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Shows that people nowadays are more afraid of failure than they want to succeed. How society learns us how to deal with failure and how to respond to it. With the “everybody’s a winner” – idea people might seriously underestimate the value of ‘effort’.
Nice quote! Really… nice…
It’s an interesting point, Tom. Has being told “winning isn’t everything” made us less likely to try aim for the top?
Being afraid to take the shot is NEVER a happy place to be. Ovrecoming that fear takes a lot of work, practice and a great team of folks around you to support and encourage you.
Once you become great like “The great one” where you have the confidence to shoot it then becomes all about making others great … and that, i believe, is the hard part!! … because we are selfish and prideful people that need to work at thinking about others to make them great
http://twitter.com/franswaa
I’m in the ridiculously happy position to be able to say that we’re doing great things and our team is running well because of great leadership – at all levels.
I’d argue that everyone on the ice has to lead at times – perhaps whey they have control of the puck, or when tying up an opposing teams player, or when attempting to screen the goalie. If everyone on the team is capable of leading at times and key leaders are willing to pass the puck and allow them to lead, (i.e. like Gretzky setting up the plays and passing the puck) then you can’t help but succeed.
Plateau’s are great as long as you use them to celebrate your success and plan your next ascent. There’s always more we can do – but it’s important to recognize great achievements before you take on a new challenge.
Your blog reminds me how blessed I am to work in service of a great cause with great leaders and a remarkable team. Thanks!
It’s an important distinction to remember for sure, Laurie. I’d far rather seen a team of leaders as opposed to relying on one – what happens when that person falls (which everyone does at some point)?
Reminds me of a saying that’s stuck with me over the years: “Great leaders don’t want to be leaders. Great leaders become leaders through necessity.”
We all have the leadership role to play.
Danny, as usual, you are spot on! I agree with your previous comments, often times people are either more afraid of success than they are failure and that reflects in the decisions they make when choosing a coach/leader for their team. Good stuff
It’s a pity that we grow older, we learn to avoid failure.
You’re so right. I think deep inside us, we have a standard we want to keep, whatever it is we are doing.
Good is often not good enough, let alone failure. It is funny I also read the other day that Michael Jordan probably missed more shots than anybody but through rigorous training that he played better than anybody and scored more.
I agree, it is a great quote. And a gentle reminder for myself. So thanks for that.
Danny
I think this post is similar to a post a shared with you on the out-behave manifesto. I do not know whether it is that I am older or that the economy forced all to be more self-reflective about how one spends their time, but I think they only difference that separates a Gretzsky from a lesser player is mostly discipline.
Case in point, I watched the Cetics/Bulls play a historic first round of playoff bball. During that time, these teams duked out it out for additional 7 over times. This series stands out to me b/c it suggests a level of discipline and mental toughness that most would argue is a god gifted talent. When, the reality of this series is that the team that won, is known for high level of discipline in terms of skills, workouts, conditioning.
Bottom line. You have to love what you do.
Both you and Hendry above make great points, Amanda. Maybe some targets are too hard to reach – but it’s the trying in the first place that’s important.
Where would any of us be without the initial attempt at anything? No-one wants to live in a cave forever, do they?
Hey Danny,
It is great to hear quotes like that from anyone who has made it to the top of their field. A simple quote means more when you know that it is being made by someone who has truly focused on that concept their whole life. It is easy to say something but another thing to truly believe it and live your life by it. Bill Russell, Ted Williams, Wayne Gretzky, Tiger Woods… These are not just great athletes but the best that ever lived at doing what they do. They are all driven and focused in a way that is truly inspiring.
I recently read a book called ‘The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die’. It recounts the author’s interviews with a huge group of people and one of the trends he found was along the same lines as the Gretzky quote. At the end of the road, people don’t ever regret a chance they took that ended in failure. They regret the chances and risks they never took in the first place.
Hey there Marty,
That seems to be the perfect summation – it’s knowing that you could have done something and didn’t that I think, as you mention, causes the most regret.
Sounds an interesting book – I’ll be checking it out, cheers!