"It doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning is winning." SMS #1

To be edited**

Episode 1 of The Self Made Semester (SMS)

The line between a win and a loss is extremely thin. It’s almost comical.

I failed my driving test yesterday (at the time I am writing this) and it feels so weird knowing how close I was to passing. A quarter turn more to avoid touching the middle line. or 5km/h less so I can turn more slowly to avoid crossing hands. But all that doesn’t translate when you tell other people. It simply remain as a fail is a fail.

No matter how close you are to the podium, You Do Not Win.

There has to be some positive outlook on this though... right?

(Honestly, I just had to look for something to get me out of my melancholic rut of failing at something I really wanted.)

So there’s this imaginary line between and win and a loss right. If it is this easy to go from fail to pass. That means you can also win by an inch…?

But really think about it. How many activities you barely participated in that made it to your CV

How many half ass ideas have actually turned out great?

But also somewhat opposed to one of the most famous quote of Friedrich Nietzsche. "I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and the impossible."

Small easy wins may not be as fufilling as attempting and even failing at doing The BIG Thing. I agree, we need to pursue Our Big Dream where the chances of winning might be slim. But id also take it with a picnh of salt because the guy was also un poco loco (a little bit crazy)

Nietzsche was right but there's some beauty in collecting the few easy wins. Sometimes you just need to play the game and go get some wins.

Like that muscular charismatic dude from the movies with cars said -

Don Torrero is not the muscular guy dropping banger quotes. The idea of momentum from small wins is actually something I’m borrowing from Conor McGregor. Hate him all you want - dude can fight, has pulled off underdog comebacks, is a crazy good businessman, and knows how to put on a show. What more do you want? (Well… maybe fewer big payout fights and criminal cases, but that’s another story.)

He talks about how you always have a choice between small wins and small losses. After one of his defeats, he explained that it wasn’t just the fight he lost - he lost in all the tiny moments before. He’d say he’d wake up at a certain time, but didn’t. He’d plan to train, but skipped it. He’d swear off certain foods or drinks, then gave in. Each small slip weakens the mind.

On the flip side, the small wins add up. One good choice stacks onto the next, and before you know it, those little inches pile up - and suddenly, you’re the one standing on the podium.

See you on the next one, and go get those inches.
(Okay, that still sounds kinda weird, but you get what I mean.)