Lexulous Life Lessons: The Will To Win

The question you have to ask yourself is:

Just how bad do you want it?

The killer instinct to put them away
The determination to fight when looked in the eye. 
The sheer hate of losing and the desire to do just about anything to avoid it.
Hate to lose.  
Very few have this. 
I thought I wanted to be one of the best Lexulous players out there.
I have had my rating at 2000 or better. I have been there, but I can't stay there.  Why is that? I certainly want it.

I have written and posted more than 30 blogs about lessons I have learned playing Lexulous in the past year.

It is great to  re-read them all myself.  I have learned a lot by playing. I am certainly a much better player than I was, even when I was very good I was not as good as I could be. As I am now. But I know I can be better. I am still missing that one ingredient. That one...that this blog is about.

Desire 
 

 When I first started to go to the harness races, there was a super horse called Cam Fella. They called him "The Pacing Machine". And for good reason. He was like a machine. Yes he was fast, very fast.  And talented, supremely talented. And classy, but so were tons of horses. A horse named Its Fritz was all of those things as well. But Its Fritz didn't win 28 straight races, let alone at that level
Cam Fella did to end his career. The question is: Why? Why did Cam Fella do it while many very talented horses, possibly as talented or more talented,  did not? Cam Fella had something they didn't. He simply refused to lose. I don't know if you can teach that. I am not sure if you can develop that. But you can certainly spot it. The determined are very easy to distinguish from the quitters. Why? Because they win. A lot.

  
When they met,  Cam Fella looked beat. And he was beat. Now, Its Fritz didn't just lose because of lack of desire or extreme desire on Cam Fella's part, but that was part of it. When Its Fritz got tired, he just didn't have that will to keep going and get the job done. Cam Fella had that. On a day where talent and conditions and luck were equal, Cam Fella just wanted it more. That, in my opinion, is what separates the great ones from the very good ones.
 
When I play Lexulous,  I win quite a bit. More than my share. I am pretty good. I have taken the time to make myself into a very good player.  But I am not a great player. I should be. I might be. I can be. But right now, I am not. I want to be. But I am not. Why?

 Horse trainers talk about it all the time. So do coaches.. Dale Hunter, Pete Rose.  Michael Jordan. Rocket Richard. They just hated to lose and when the chips were down, they just refused to let it happen.

 I have found in life it all boils down to one thing. The will to win. The drive and desire to achieve and do your best. Whenever you do anything, you make that decision to either do the best you can or do less than that. Some are born with that desire and don't even have to think about it. They know no other way. Others have to make a decision. Some are a mixture of both, at any given particular time.

How bad do you want it? Do you want it bad enough that you are going to do whatever it takes to win? In many cases, that is what separates the good from the great. 
When  you play Lexulous, you always have a choice to make. You can simply play the best move you can find at the time, quickly, or you can take the time to make the best move possible every time. There is a very wide gap between the results you get from one mode of operation to the other.


I think about this, because it is relevant to my writing. Do I really want it that bad? Am I just relying on my natural talent and not putting out the effort that is really needed? Am I ever going to get all my great concepts out there if I don't wake up everyday with a burning desire to do so? 
So far, the answer to those questions is not something I am proud of. 

5 questions you need to ask yourself.

What is it going to take to win this game?
What is it going to take to write and finish this script?
If I want to get to point B, and I am at point A, what is it going to take to get there from here? 
Why aren't I getting it done and others are? 
Why don't I care enough to care enough to care if I don't succeed?


It is all about desire. Be that money, sex, winning, writing, or anything. Those that really want it, or want it more, are very much more likely to get it. 
There is no greater factor than that. When you reach the top and face the best, you are both likely as talented as each other. It will boil down to who wants it more.
Are you going to be the one that does, or doesn't?