Well, hello, my friends, and welcome to the Live Inspired podcast with John O'Leary.

I record these so you and I can begin our days in awe and on fire with the burst of inspiration.

And let's do exactly that today by quoting an old coach named Shankly.

William Shankley wrote this.

If you are first, you are first.

If you are second, you are nothing.

It was during a timeout during our seventh grade basketball game.

With just seconds left in that game, we were down by a single point and had possession of the ball.

Coach drew up the plan, looked into the eyes of the five boys about to take the court,

and then emphatically shared,

gentlemen, this is your chance. This is your moment to win. Remember, there are no points for second

place. Then, look in each of us in our eyes one more time, coach repeated even more

adamantly, no points for second place. So we took the court, we attempted to play, we

shot the ball, the final horn sounded, and moments later came back to the bench.

Heads hung low, defeated.

We failed in our quest for victory.

We missed our chance.

There were no points for these second place losers.

Now, my friends, I don't fault that coach for pushing us to strive for greatness.

I believe in keeping score and I don't believe that every team deserves a ribbon just for showing up.

Competition is a gift that can benefit entire societies, drive values organizationally, and empower individuals to become far better versions

of themselves.

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