MAXSC Blog

The following quotes are from Vince Lombardi.

It’s easy to have faith in yourself and discipline when you’re a winner, when you’re number one.  What you have got to have is faith and discipline when you’re not a winner.

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

This weeks story

Eddie Arcaro dreamed of becoming the world’s greatest jockey.  But watching him ride it became apparent the he was awkward, clumsy and when in the saddle he couldn’t do anything right.  In his first 100 races he never came close to finishing.  Still he continued to try.
Arcaro was only a little over 5 feet tall and weighed about 80 pounds.  The other kids teased and shunned him.  Finally he convinced his dad to let him leave school and pursue a career as a jockey.

No one was betting on Arcaro but he was determined not only to ride but to become the world’s greatest jockey.  Finally he got to ride in a race.  Before the race was over he had lost his whip and cap and had almost fallen off the saddle.  By the time he finished the race the other horses were on their way back to the stables.  He’d come in dead last.
After that Arcaro went from track to track looking for an opportunity to ride.  Finally, an owner took pity on him and gave him a chance.  Every after 100 trophy-less races he was still giving him a chance and Arcaro wasn’t about to quit.  The trainers saw something in this unlucky jockey, something they couldn’t define.

There were long years when he was broke.  He had many brushes with death and several broken bones.  Every time he was hurt he would get patched up and return to the saddle.

Then Arcaro began to win..and win…and win.  In thirty years of riding he won 4,779 races, becoming the only jockey in history to win the Kentucky Derby five times.  When he retired in 1962 he was a millionaire and a legend in the racing community.

From the moment Arcaro walked out of school and onto a track he had his mind on the finish line.  And although the race took thirty years, he never quit until the line was crossed.

Cynthia Kersey

Comments by Savage

This is a true story about someone who travelled a bumpy road to reach success.  Would you still be attempting to get better after 99 failures?  I’m not sure I would.

But the real point here is that while you are attempting to learn a new skill, reach a new level of performance or whatever it is you are attempting to achieve you are on a journey of discovery.  As you go along you have no way of knowing whether the next attempt will be the one where everything falls into place and you are successful.  What if this jockey had stopped after the 99th attempt.  He would NEVER have achieved the success that he did.

I mentioned this story to a friend who remembered this jockey. All he remembered was what a great jockey he was. He had no idea what went into this success.  Others don’t see how difficult it is to get good at something, they only see your successes.