\u201cWinning is being better today than you were yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking an \u201cL\u201d is never fun. But coming in last place can cut to the core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But society\u2019s definition of losing isn\u2019t the same as failure. In fact, it\u2019s actually a form of winning, according to legendary Scottish track coach Frank Dick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dick shared a wise life lesson for anyone struggling to feel successful. Through the story of coaching a 9-year-old girl, he redefines the concept of \u201cwinning,\u201d giving it new meaning and perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a clip on Youtube, Dick explains that the persistent girl came to him for coaching. She wanted to run the 100-meter race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI work with her for a few weeks, and she goes to her first race,\u201d he said. \u201cShe lines up with seven kids. \u2018On you mark, get set, bang!\u2019 She runs down the track and hurls herself at the line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She came in eighth place out of eight with a time of 18 seconds\u2014dead last. Defeated, she told Dick, \u201cI was last.\u201d But he challenged her perspective. \u201cNo, you weren\u2019t last,\u201d he said, but she disagreed. He explained, \u201cYou were 18 seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She doesn\u2019t understand what he means, so he adds: \u201cYou\u2019ve smashed the 20-second barrier, and I had you down for 19 seconds. You\u2019re a whole second faster than that! You know what this means? It\u2019s your lifetime-best performance. Your own personal world record.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then he told her, \u201cIn some ways, you\u2019re a first. You\u2019re the first athlete I\u2019ve ever coached who\u2019s run 18 seconds in the 100 meters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dick adds that this conversation will help boost her confidence. It will also help her notice her personal improvements rather than compare herself to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn a few weeks\u2019 time she\u2019s got another race. What does she think winning is now if she does 17.9 seconds? She\u2019ll grab a flag, and she\u2019ll run around the track because that\u2019s what winning is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s the secret to giving the concept of winning a new definition. Appreciate every little improvement, no matter the size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWinning is being better today than you were yesterday, every day,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if she keeps on working at that, in a few weeks\u2019 time she\u2019s fighting with other kids to get to the line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The point isn\u2019t to beat the other kids she\u2019s racing against. It\u2019s that she showed up to race again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe reason you go into tough arenas in life is to be challenged to perform better. You cannot perform better if you\u2019re not challenged,\u201d he said. \u201cListen, you don\u2019t learn to climb mountains in life by going round them or asking somebody for a ladder. You learn to climb mountains by climbing mountains. By seeking out the really toughest challenges because that makes you perform better when you keep on going, going at that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He ends the interview with a mic-drop quote: \u201cOne day you\u2019ll be a one and only, but the truth is she always was, is, and will be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWinning is being better today than you were yesterday.\u201d Taking an \u201cL\u201d is never fun. But coming in last place can cut to the core.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/836788568_1661070478707112_8815410085571369823_n.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12219,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12217\/revisions\/12219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}