The sole purpose of everyone else in the race is to help you run faster. The person in front of you is simply showing you what is possible. They are saying, “You can do this!”

Everyone needs a diagnosis, an excuse. I could be a great runner if it wasn’t for this damn asthma; the pain in my knee has really interrupted my training; I have to get my diet figured out. As long as you have a good excuse as to why you haven’t started to fly, you never will.

If Barbara doesn’t expect to win, she has already forfeited the race. And so have you. You have given up your chance to find out just how fast you can go. The best way to approach a race is to win! The only way to find out how good you can really be is to be willing to give everything you have in an attempt to win. The desire to win is the same as

Learning that the reliance on human strength alone was limiting, he was propelled by a force unknown to most.

Long-term success is learning how to acknowledge those differences and not struggle too much on a bad day. A bad day is only a day, not a life.

Imagine going to practice or work every day and knowing that the reason you are doing what you do is because you believe that you and your teammates are going to do something really special, something that history will remember for a long time. Your whole life is changed. There is purpose in everything you do. You matter and everyone else matters,

taking risks and challenging yourself leads to opportunity. Conversely, avoiding risk leads to repetition and mediocrity. Taking a risk and putting it all out there is the best way to achieve something you have not yet accomplished.

Whatever you do, make some promise—a commitment—to yourself. Promise you will not quit when it gets difficult. Promise you will not hold anything back. Let the contest be the most important thing in your life at the moment. And make sure you keep your promise to yourself.

They are not interested in beating you because their desire to win has absolutely nothing to do with you. It is simply their own desire to find out what they can be and do. Therefore, they have no strong emotional response to winning or losing. They realize that nothing is different about them whether they have won or lost. They either learned some