GenX Turns Fifty

I admit it, I like to win. Actually it’s more like I don’t like to lose. Losing is not fun. Winning is fun. Going undefeated is REALLY fun. I think this is part of being a Generation X’er – we are accustomed to winning. My siblings would agree, that I am wanting to win. Every time. Even if you don’t think it you are winning driven, think about any endeavour. Would you keep doing it, if you failed every time or had no hope at winning at it? I have learned that losing happens, and can happen regularly if you are not trying to become a winner. So if I lose, what did I underestimate? My skills, my opponent’s skills, training, experience, intelligence, wisdom, “street smarts”, luck, blind spots, known unknowns, unknown unknowns??? What can I learn? How can I turn today’s loss into tomorrow’s win? It’s a waste of time to stick to a losing program. If you aren’t winning at least a majority of the time, then start looking at why! Coaches, players, executives, cities, today’s technology companies – if you’re not heading towards winning, you are heading towards losing… Look at some examples, like the city of Detroit. The company Blackberry (a.k.a. RIM). Everyone had one of those things strapped to their hip. You could not live without it. Then the competition comes along with the iPhone and the Android phone and WHAM – that company is looking for someone to buy them and fast… what happened? Probably a combination of pride and ignorance. They didn’t see what was happening around them, that change was upon them and sometimes to keep winning you have to learn and change…

Charlie Sheen – Gen X’er – during his famous meltdown, why was he so concerned we all saw he was “winning”? I’m not really a fan of Mr. Sheen, but at least even insane Hollywood elite care that we know they are winning…

When I started this blog, I mentioned that I am a Christian, so let’s include some of that in here – In life, I believe God has programmed us with the need to win, make progress, be successful. The Israelites – won, lost, won, lost big, won big, lost again on and on. What was God trying to teach us through all that? That if we followed his wisdom and principles, we’d win. Don’t, we’d lose. In Exodus 17 God tells Moses what to do to win. Seems simple enough, do what I say, hold up the staff, win. Put it down, lose. Jesus was seen as a lost cause to those around him at the time, but actually he had the long-term in mind, kept true to his mission and won, BIG…

So what’s the take away here – Even if your aren’t a Gen X’er – you were meant to win, be successful, learn through the losses, change, learn, try ,try harder and win.