3.28 Vince Lombardi: Wanting to Win

“Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is.” - Vince Lombardi

You can’t always control whether you win or not. Sometimes, your opponent is too big, strong, experienced, and good to overcome.

But that should never impact how you show up, do your job, add value, and compete.

Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.” Coach Lombardi was known for his demanding coaching style and relentless pursuit of excellence. This quote says that the pursuit of greatness and excellence is just as important as the result.

Your will is a strong intention or desire to do something. When your will is strong enough, you will wake up or show up early, you will do your job with integrity and excellence, and you will find ways to add value.

My favorite athlete of all time is Michael Jordan. He was blessed with a lot of talent and world-class athleticism, but he was also blessed with an intense will to compete and get better.

When Jordan was a freshman at the University of North Carolina, he told Coach Williams he wanted to be the best player to ever play at North Carolina. Coach Williams told him that he would have to work harder than he did in high school, and when Jordan said back, “I work as hard as everybody else,” Coach Williams said, “Excuse me, I thought you just told me you wanted to be the best player to ever play here.”

Jordan said, “I’m going to show you. Nobody will ever work as hard as I’ll work.”

That is what it means to have the will to win.

Question of the Day: What is more important to you: Winning or the will to win?