Best Advice: Do One Thing Right
When I was about ten years old, I played soccer for the Brookline, Massachusetts team. We went off to play another town: Medford, I think. I don't remember the details of the game, but I do remember being scared of them. They were much bigger; they were probably older; and they kicked the ball a lot farther. They won, maybe 3-1, and I was upset. But then I remember, quite clearly, my coach, Bruce Cochrane, explaining that it didn't matter. We had played real soccer: passing, shooting, and running. They had just been larger and tougher. So what if they could kick the ball further. We'd get older and we'd beat them.
It sounds like a trite lesson now: another version of "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game." But it was much more powerful. He was explaining that there was a certain artistry to what we were trying to do, and a certain dignity that we had upheld even in defeat. Lots of adults try to impart this lesson on children. For some reason, this time it stuck. And, whether by luck or not, the players on his teams have gone on to do lots of interesting things in life. One was Theo Epstein, who's now the general manager of the Cubs. Another is the great cornet player, Taylor Ho Bynum.
Later in life, while writing a book on Paul Nitze and George Kennan, I came across a different quote, which I often think about, and which I consider sound advice. It's from a book Kennan wrote called, American Diplomacy, in which he traces a series of American foreign policy errors. In one particular passage, he's explaining relations between the United States and Japan prior to World War II.
"In the fabric of human events, one thing leads to another. Every mistake is in a sense the product of all the mistakes that have gone before it, from which fact it derives a sort of cosmic forgiveness; and at the same time every mistake is in a sense the determinant of all the mistakes of the future, from which it derives a sort of cosmic unforgivableness."
The quote is gloomy, as Kennan often was. But whenever things aren't going the way I want them to, this quote comes to mind—If I can just do one thing right, then everything can start to move in the right direction again. And it's a reminder, too, when the temptation arises to do things sloppily, to try to do them well.
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10 年Do one thing right, and continue to get better at what you do best.
Retired
10 年Become an expert in something.
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11 年NOTHING IS WITHOUT REASON PERHAPS WHAT MATTERS HAPPENS TO BE THE PROCESS AND CONVERSION POINT.
Health and Wellness Coach at TVH Americas
11 年In our multi-tasking world, it is a good reminder to FOCUS on your strengths and progress rather than getting caught up in fear and anxiety which plant seeds of doubt and defeat. Skills are a learned process; any athlete knows there are valuable lessons in losing. The same is true in all aspects of life, rather than comparing embrace the opportunity to improve yourself by being challenged. “Never try to be better than someone else. Learn from others, and try to be the best you can be. Success is the by-product of that preparation.” John Wooden
Graphic Designer
11 年Or to quote my father's words, "Any job worth doing, is worth doing right." Good article, I was sucked in by a story about soccer. I'll always remember the days I played for our legendary Coach, Bob Zentz. Man those days, the inspirational speeches, and more lasting are the little things that a coach or teacher would say just to you in particular, those do last a lifetime. (Along with the memory of my dad running up and down the sidelines as volunteer linesman, hehe good stuff. Did I intentionally kick the ball out of bounds just to make him run more? Very possible. :)