It was March 4th, 1993, 27 years ago. I was one of the many viewers who watched and marveled at Jimmy Valvano’s acceptance speech at the Espy awards held in Madison Square Garden. He was the being honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
“When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it’s the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day.
Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.”….Jimmy V.
“I always have to think about what’s important in life to me are these three things, where you started, where you are and where you’re going to be” Jimmy Valvano.
1) Where you started
We all come from someplace and its not the same place. Life may deal out the cards, but it remains up to us as individuals to play the hand as best we can. Jimmy V in his Espy speech cited a book written by Vince Lombardi called Commitment to Excellence.
Lombardi is famous for saying, “Gentlemen, the quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” In other words, we may not have started out in an excellent place, but excellence can be achieved with focus and commitment.
Jimmy goes on to hilariously recount how Lombardi inspired him to give his first rah rah speech as the freshman basketball coach at Rutgers University. The point being, he never forgot where he came from. Humility is being comfortable in your own skin without having to explain it to anyone else. It tends to unlock honesty with regard to life and circumstances.
2) Where you are
Jimmy said, “ It’s so important to know where you are. I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. You have to be willing to work for it.”
What is the honest current state assessment of our lives? What are we called to do? What are we passionate about? What course corrections need to be made? If we aim at nothing, we will hit is every time. If we know what we are good at, have enthusiasm for and apply it diligently, chances are we will be happy with what we do and succeed.
Here’s the job interview cliché question: Where do you see yourself in 5 years, in 10 years or in 20 years? Part of being committed to excellence is having a vision or a dream and persisting regardless of the circumstances.
By way of example, I have seen a close friend lose an incredible amount of weight. She had some life matters to attend to, as we all do, and her honest self-assessment led to a remarkable resolve and commitment. Life was not going to pass her by. She is an awesome example of having a goal and the will to work at it to make it a reality.
Another example is doing an advanced degree, while being a busy working parent. I know a person who never gave up in his pursuit of a master’s degree. He started it right out of undergraduate, then life happened. But he never lost sight of the end goal. It took almost 20 years of adjusted circumstances and course corrections to finally allow him to hit the finish line. Most often the path of commitment is travelled in baby steps vs leaps and bounds. It’s OK to have dreams in the slow cooker as long as we keep the fire going.
3) Where are you going to be?
How did you answer the question, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years, in 10 years or in 20 years?” Was your honest self-assessment consistent with where you are going? Let’s discuss this.
If the answer is yes, what immediate and longer term goals and sub goals have you formalized to get there? We tend to allocate time to what is important. This requires discipline to shut out the noise of the world that is irrelevant to where we are going to be. It would be interesting to interact with everyone five years from now and look back to see what actually transpired.
If the answer was no, what are you waiting for?“Now I look at where I am now and I know what I want to do. We need money for research. It may not save my life. It may save my children’s lives. It may save someone you love. We are starting the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. And its motto is “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.”…Jimmy V.
So, regardless of where you started, or where you are, have a goal in mind and don’t give up, don’t ever give up. Have a laugh each day, exercise your mind and live passionately. And each day don’t forget to focus on your religion, your family and the Green Bay Packers![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
