# I Didn’t Win

Source: https://dairycoach.com/i-didnt-win/
Published: 2011-06-14
Author: Tom Wall

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This past Saturday morning, I was one of the 18,000+ people in Green Bay who participated in the Bellin Run.  It’s only the second time I ran in this annual 10k race, and as it turns out, it’s also only the second time I’ve ever run 6.2 miles.  After the event, the obvious question everyone likes to ask each other is “How did you do?”  To that, I like to reply with, “I didn’t win.”  In fact, I didn’t even come close!

That’s the funny thing about running in races.  Everyone knows that only one person will win.  And usually the winner could run the race *twice* before most of us cross the finish line *once*.  Yet thousands still choose to train and run them anyway.

So why do so many people choose to work hard at something they know they can’t win?  I’m sure everyone has their personal reason for why they sign up for these races.  But I think most of us do it because we like the challenge of pushing ourselves in order to beat our last year’s time.

And even if you’ve never participated in a race, I’m sure you’ve found yourself working hard at something that you knew you weren’t going to finish in first place.  Yet for some reason, you remained committed to finishing and achieving your personal goal.

The reality is that there’s only one ‘number one’.  Unfortunately, you might never be the biggest or the best.  But that doesn’t mean you should get discouraged and quit trying.  The good news is that if you’re truly good at what you do, the market will make plenty of room for you and what you have to offer.

So if being the biggest or the best is ‘already taken’ and currently out of reach, what does that mean for you and your team?  Hopefully that means your goal is ‘constant improvement’.  In other words, instead of focusing your team’s efforts on chasing someone else, focus this energy on being better than your previous best.

Sure, it’s easy to want to give up when you realize you’re not going to be ‘the biggest’ or ‘the best’.  But as long as you stay in the race and keep pushing forward, you can always do better than you did before.