“…You just dominate.”

Al Davis – legendary owner of the Oakland Raiders

Dominate means to have control of or power over (someone or something).  This is how I like things; no crying, no excuse making, no claims of “that’s not fair”, no whining about a bad call or accusing others of cheating, simply dominate and make no room for these delusion-creating detours to even exist.

You won’t find me crying about losing, or accusing someone else of causing the loss.  I hate losing, even more than I enjoy winning, but if I lose, in any area of life, I know it’s my own fault for not dominating.  If I find myself in situation where things could go either way, in the spot of “hoping and a praying”, knocking on wood, wearing a rally-cap, or holding my breath for a lucky break, I immediately stop myself and take an honest assessment of where I failed in my preparation or execution.

If my body fat percentage shoots up, it’s because I didn’t dominate my flesh, both with food intake and exercise output.  If my family relationships start to go sideways, it’s because I didn’t dominate my ego and selfishness, at the expense of others.  If my career/business isn’t flourishing, it’s because I didn’t put in the personal and professional development training time and subsequent practical application.  If my personal finances go south, it’s because my earnings didn’t match up with my spending, and on and on.

I see this kind of thing in the sports arena as well.  Coaches and players throwing hissy-fits about bad calls or missed calls by referees or umpires, or a difference of opinion on a judgment call.  Hey, if the contest is that close that winning or losing is dictated by an official’s judgment call, don’t cry about it. The fact is, the team wouldn’t be in that position if it had just dominated the opponent.

I refuse to let others’ actions take me out of implementing my own game plan.  Getting sucked into blaming anything other than the fact that I was outperformed, under prepared, or simply not good enough to win, does nothing to help me get better.

The next time life kicks you in teeth, quit crying – spit out the blood and dominate!

Boo Yah!