In war there is no prize for runner-up

In war there is no prize for runner-up. – Seneca

So, who's thinking "I'm gonna come in 2nd place!"?

What does that mean?
This is an interesting quote, as time is showing this quote to have a few cracks in it. It used to be that in wars, there were two sides and when it was done, there was a clear winner and a clear loser. Today, there are often more than two sides, and often alliances are more of convenience than of conviction.

The aims of one faction might not be the same as those of another, and while the other side may end up with the military victory, it may end up losing the public relations war, or the economic war or some other aspect of the conflict.

This means that there may be a clear cut victor on the battlefield, but declaring them the winner of the war isn’t always as easy as it used to be. Today this quote applies equally well to business as to war. Does anyone out there own an IBM computer?

Why is victory important?  
In today’s world, there are few places where the second place company gets much. Who is Apple’s runner-up? How about online bookseller Amazon, who’s their runner-up? For the Big Box stores, there’s Wal-Mart and then… who?

At one time, IBM was a giant in every field it entered, from typewriters to large computers to Personal Computers. Then they lost sight of the end user and stopped innovating and now? They are just a footnote in Personal Computing history.

Note that one can be a victor without having victims. Unlike war, one can win in business without literally killing the competition. If you can provide useful service or good for a price the public likes, you are on your way. Do it long enough and you will have a loyal following, and can look to expand. That’s what Sam did.

Where can I apply this in my life?
“But, wait!” I can hear some of you stammering, “I’m not in business!” Perhaps you don’t own or run a business in the traditional sense, but what about your work? What services or goods are you supplying your boss? Whether it’s your muscles, your brains or some combination of them, you are in the business of filling a need at work.

What is the difference between being the best and being one of the rest? Do they have an award at your company for the “Second Best Employee of the Month”? Not at any of the places I have worked. Who get’s the better raise, the best employee, or the second best?

How about at home, in your personal life, and with your family and friends? Do you strive to be the best friend you can be, the best dad/mom/brother/sister you can be? Do they make coffee mugs that say “World’s Second Best Dad” on them?

True, these aren’t war scenarios, as described in the quote. But in this day and age, for most of us, war is not a day-to-day reality. I hope I have convinced you at this point that the quote (as twisted by me) is relevant to today in general and to your life in specific.

So how does one work towards personal excellence? By choice, of course. Since you can probably only work on a few aspects of your life at a time, you will need to prioritize and pick which aspect of your life you most need to improve. Grab some paper and write down several areas in your life where you want to improve your game.

Pick the one you want to do first and write down next to it why you absolutely have to complete this personal improvement. This reason must be compelling, as it is what you are going to turn to when you’re feeling down. It’s got to be strong enough to get you out of the dumps, off the couch and get you back to work on improving yourself.

Once you have your compelling reason, it’s time to start your plan. Time and money are the usual constraints, but you can figure out what yours are based on what you want to improve. While keeping your constraints in mind, what steps will you take to get you from where you are to where you want to be?

Once you have the basic steps figured out, start breaking them down into smaller chunks. Not so small that they include steps like “put on and tie your shoes” but detailed enough that you know exactly what you need to do, and how to do it. Or that you don’t know how to do this step, so you can find the information, or seek out expert advice or assistance.

Now that you have a plan roughed out, it’s time to take the first step and build some momentum. Select a fairly simple step, on you can do right now, before you get distracted by all the other things you need to do today. Do it. If it’s easy enough, perhaps you can do two. Get started, make the plan real, convince yourself (and your inner doubter) that not only will this happen, that it has already begun.

Then just keep at it. Make progress every day, every week. If you get down or frustrated, go back to your compelling reason. If it doesn’t get you going, perhaps you should get a better reason.  Keep going, and eventually you will get there. Don’t be the runner-up, be the winner.

From: Twitter, @philo_quotes
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/l/luciusanna118906.html
Photo by AdamKR