A few weeks ago after a tough loss I asked the volleyball girls if they had played to win or played not to lose.

At first a few of them seemed slightly confused by the difference because wasn’t winning NOT losing?

Yes, winning is not losing BUT playing to win or playing not to lose are two completely different things.

When you “play to win,” you play confidently and go for your shots. You move, play and think like you are on top and your body language is upbeat and confident.

You are doing everything you can to CREATE the win.

When you “play not to lose,” you are playing defensively. You are playing like you are hoping the other team just makes a mistake and hands the win to you.

You aren’t GOING FOR IT. You aren’t CONFIDENT.

And unfortunately all too often I see people playing not to lose…and not only in the athletic realm.

If you truly WANT something, be it victory on the playing field, weight loss or even a promotion at work, you’ve got to go for it. You’ve got to give it your all and set yourself up for success.

You can’t just hang in their and hope someone is going to give it to you.

If you want to reach your goal, you’ve got to BELIEVE that you can.

Because when we believe, we train hard. We play hard. We stay focused and confident. We ACT like winners.

And when we act like winners, we do what is necessary to succeed.

That doesn’t mean victory is guaranteed or that it will be a smooth and easy road to success.

But it does mean you will be able to be proud of yourself – proud of how you acted, proud of how you worked – because you will know you did your best.

Because no victory is truly as sweet if you don’t feel like you EARNED IT.

Stop waiting for someone to hand you success. Stop “playing it safe.” Stop playing “not to lose.”

Believe in yourself and go and get the victory.

This past Saturday, the volleyball girls played a team they hadn’t beaten in two years. They’d even lost to the team earlier this year. But this past Saturday, they came back from near defeat to claim victory over the team.

They fought back from NEAR DEFEAT because they started playing to win!

They had the courage to believe they could win even when the odds were stacked against them.

Will you have the same courage and believe you can succeed this week?

Will you play to win!?!