If there is one thing that I genuinely cannot stand, it is losing...
While loss is inevitable and everyone has to go through it in their lives, how one chooses to accept loss will determine their level of potential.
Whether it is the loss of a loved one, a relationship, a sport, your business - there are some things you can't control, but how you deal with them is something you can control.
I personally have never dealt with loss well.
I have always been extremely hard on myself mentally because I do not like to lose - I am competitive and I like to win.
I expect myself to be able to control everything and there are some things I cannot control.
One thing I learned playing ice hockey for 15 years is that you can only control what you can control. In other words, I can only control my efforts and my game - I cannot control the overall efforts of the rest of my team, I cannot control the referees, and I definitely can't control whether the coach decides to put me out on the ice in a big moment or not.
Oftentimes, losing in sports fucking sucks, especially when you are playing games you should have won or even worse, losing in state championships...
Losing has never felt good to me because I often sit there and replay the scenarios in my head of outcomes that have already happened as if I could change the outcome.
I have lost at just about anything that I have ever tried.
While I sit in my head and replay how I could have done things better, I have learned as I have gotten older to embrace the suck a little bit more.
I realize now that losing is inevitable and it HAS to happen because while no-one likes to lose, there are lessons to be taught.
It doesn't matter what you lose in, there is a lesson to be learned - whether it was mistakes you have made, things you ignored, effort that you failed to put in etc.
I believe that when it comes to losing, people oftentimes resort to living a more comfortable life so that they don't have to experience losing as much because the bigger and more shit that you do, the more you have to lose.
People will stay in relationships with people not because they are happy and suit each others spirits, but because they are afraid of losing them.
People grow comfortable being with someone they don't even like that much until they wake up one day, have a family together, and realize that they no longer want to be together anymore.
People will oftentimes choose to sit at desk in an office that they hate instead of going out and building a business around something they enjoy. Why? Because it is easier to stay put than to go out and risk losing.
The path of least resistance is part of human nature when the real beauty in life lies on the other side of hard work and patience.
As I mentioned above, I have failed at everything I have ever tried.
But one thing about me personally is that I will never give up...
I have taught myself over the years to set goals for myself and stick to them through sheer discipline and hard work.
I learned that in order for something good to come out of whatever it is that you're doing, you have to suffer and continue to work towards the outcome you actually want.
Nothing will happen over night - if it did, it wouldn't be worth having.
While I have never had trouble obtaining women, every relationship I have ever had, I have failed in.
I realize that I failed because I didn't have my priorities in order.
I realize that just being a good guy isn't good enough - I have to be THE man.
I learned from the mistakes I have made.
If she doesn't like you liking other girls Instagram posts, stop liking them! If she is not putting herself out there like that, why would I?
It is only through failure that I have learned what I truly want in life.
I can picture exactly what I want clearly in my mind and I am at a point in my life where quitting is never going to be an option.
The only option I have is to keep moving forward in pursuit of what I want and becoming the man I need to become.
Every failure is a lesson, every lesson is wisdom, every wisdom is one step closer to becoming the person you need to become to live the life you want.
The woman or the man of your dreams is out there, but you still have work to do to be accepting of when you do finally meet them.
The life you want to live is out there, but you still have work to do before you start living it.
There will come a day when none of us are long longer here and until that day comes, we all have work to do and duties to uphold.