In Any Given Sunday The Miami Sharks, a once great team, are struggling to make the playoffs. They are coached by thirty-year veteran Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino) , who has fallen out of favour with the team and its owners. As the team prepares to go on to the field Pacino delivers my favourite motivational speech of the movies.
“You know, when you get old, in life, things get taken from you. I mean, that's... that's... that's a part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losin' stuff. You find out life's this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game - life or football - the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second”.
It’s not the huge gains we need right now….it’s the inches. My key learning from this speech is that in both business and life it is not the significant things that we do that make the difference. It’s the day to day small things that bring significance, deliver results and ultimately change the game. If I look in the mirror I recognise I am a lifetime of small refinements. Whilst there may be big things that have impacted all of our calendars through time, it’s the small day to day things that mould and shape us.
My encouragement to you is to plan and look forward to implementing these inches you can gain to discover winning habits and a lifestyle that accompanies it. Remember they are all around you so all you have to do is look for them.
