It is that time of year again in the United States – the Super Bowl is over, and the all-star pro hockey and basketball games are over; it is almost time for March Madness. Then, baseball starts, and the basketball and hockey play offs until baseball rules the sports news until August when pro football takes control again. And that is not to mention big events in the 2024 Olympics, golf, MLS, tennis, and international soccer. Are we sports crazy or what?
I was thinking that there are lots of comparisons between sports quotes by famous athletes and entrepreneurship. Read the following and after thinking of the sport, think business; think entrepreneurship, think of what God is doing in the Business as Mission world.
- “Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly.” Shaquille O’Neal
- I’ve worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down, and I will not let myself down.” Mia Hamm
- “In the end, it’s extra effort that separates a winner from second place. But winning takes a lot more than that, too. It starts with complete command of the fundamentals. Then it takes desire, determination, discipline, and self-sacrifice. And finally, it takes a great deal of love, fairness, and respect for your fellow man. Put all these together, and even if you don’t win, how can you lose?” Jesse Owens
- “I always tell kids, you have two eyes and one mouth. Keep two open and one closed. You never learn anything if you’re the one talking.” Gordie Howe
- “Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man.” Pele
- “Treat a person as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat him as he could be, and he will become what he should be.” Jimmy Johnson
- “My dad has always taught me these words: care and share. That’s why we put on clinics. The only thing I can do is try to give back. If it works, it works.” Tiger Woods
- “The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” Babe Ruth
- “Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates.” Magic Johnson
- “Football doesn’t build character, it reveals character!” Mark Levy
- “The more I practice, the luckier I get.” Gary Player
- “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- “For me, winning isn’t something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream.” Emmitt Smith
- “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan
- “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky
- “Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.” John Wooden
Larry W. Sharp, BAM Support Specialist, IBEC Ventures
Larry.Sharp@ibecventures.com