I attended an Athletic Director’s conference several years ago in Waco, Texas. The head football coach at Baylor University at the time, Matt Rhule, was the guest speaker. If you’re not familiar with coach Rhule, he was extraordinarily successful at Baylor University and then went on to the NFL to coach the Carolina Panthers for a few years. Currently he is the head football coach at the University of Nebraska, rebuilding that program back to prominence. He is a classy individual.

He shared a quote during his presentation that I have never forgotten, and I still refer to it in my life.

“Never finish second to yourself.”

I had to digest the quote for a few minutes to wrap my mind around it, I guess its simplicity was too much for me to comprehend initially.

At the end of each practice, he would gather his team, share that simple quote, and ask, “Did you finish second to yourself today? Was there a better version of you that could have shown up and worked harder today? Did your best version show up today, or did you finish runner – up to the football player you could be?”

I’ll be the first to admit, there are times I have finished runner- up to the better version of myself. I have looked back over my day and told myself that I could have handled things better, tried a little harder, been more understanding, patient, or kind. The best version of me doesn’t always show up, but I guess that’s just human nature. It takes a lot of effort for me to finish tied for first place to myself.

I can only imagine what my day would look like if the best version of myself was present every second of the day, but that is highly unlikely. Plus, that really sounds exhausting.

As I age, I have learned to give myself a little grace. I give myself a break now and then for not having everything figured out or having all the answers. And in many ways, that may be a small part of the best version of myself.

I’ve learned a lot about life – but I still have a lot to learn. I’ve never had a perfect day yet, they don’t exist, but great days do.

So, if there is a better version of me out there as a parent, a friend, a grandpa, then absolutely, I’m all in for improvement. I don’t want to finish second to myself in those areas.

Although Coach Rhule’s quote is remarkably simple, it resonates loud and clear with me. I often ask myself if I can do better, and sometimes the answer is yes, but other times the answer is a resounding NO! I gave all I had to give and did the best I could. Sometimes that’s enough, and I finish first.

“Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable of.”

– John Wooden

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Todd Howey is a columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose articles appear on Fridays. Email comments to [email protected].