"Excuses are for beginners and losers."

-Carlton Knox, 21-year-old student at Boston College

Here's a link to The Castle Group Blog authored by David Tanklefsky, Senior Account Director, on their Public Relations team, that includes Situational Leadership, The Office, and me.

Sports are filled with inspirational stories. A lot of people played sports when they were younger and remember or applied the lessons learned.

A lot more people watch sports in person or on television and get emotionally attached to their teams and actually feel the pressure when one of their favorite players is shooting a free-throw with the game on the line, or at bat in the ninth inning trailing by a run, or with 80 yards to go and less than a minute left.

This story is about an Olympic Champion from 1912 who had that same type of pressure on him, but at the last minute something happened that took all of his determination and skill to overcome a very unfair circumstance. History proclaims his results, instead of his reasons.

You know that life isn’t fair, right? Much of the frustration in the world, whether in politics, business, social interactions or traffic is due to people NOT accepting that fact. 

Should life be fair? Probably. Is it? Sometimes, but it is a matter of degree. You have probably never won the lottery, played major league baseball, won a Nobel Prize or written a book. Is that fair?

On the other hand, you were speeding last week and didn’t get a ticket. You found the partner of your dreams and might not deserve him or her. You were invited to a big game by a friend at the last minute. You found a $20 bill in the pocket of an old coat. The list goes on and on. 

Sometimes life is fair, sometimes it is not.

You don’t need any advice about the subject when life is fair. You do a pretty good job of reacting to fairness.

What do you do when life isn’t fair? Do you focus on reasons or results?

Or do you use the ‘life isn’t fair’ excuse to excuse your results? In certain cases you’d be correct. 

But being right doesn’t really help much when life isn’t fair. And in my experience, life isn’t fair doesn’t automatically doom you to failure. 

• Is it fair to have your computer crash at a critical time? No
• Is it fair to have to stop at a red light when you are late for a meeting? No
• Is it fair to be passed over for a promotion you deserve? No
• Is it fair to be behind someone with a large order at Dunkin drive through? No
• Is it fair to have a flight delayed on your trip back home? No

The list is endless of the unfair things that happen, and some happen every day. 

Now, let’s make a list of all the accomplishments that have been achieved while whining and pouting about how life is unfair.

I’m waiting.

Ok, let’s make a list of all the good things that have happened while angry and complaining about how life is unfair.

I’m still waiting.

The point is, if you dwell on the unfairness of life, you are just dwelling and not living.

If you’ve never heard of Jim Thorpe, get ready to learn about someone who overcame a truly bizarre instance of ‘unfairness’ and went on to become a champion.

From Wikipedia:

James Francis Thorpe (Sac and Fox (Sauk): Wa-Tho-Huk, translated as "Bright Path";^[4] May 22 or 28,^[2] 1887 – March 28, 1953)^[5] was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist.

A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States in the Olympics. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won two Olympic gold medals in the 1912 Summer Olympics (one in classic pentathlon and the other in decathlon). 

Amazing Athlete

To say Jim Thorpe was a great athlete would be an understatement.

He also played major league baseball in the National League for the New York Giants.

Additionally, he played in the National Football League for the Canton Bulldogs. (Canton is the site of the Professional Football Hall of Fame and had a team in the NFL).



 He was also a pretty good basketball player.

1912 Olympics

But he is most famous for participating in 15 different events during the 1912 Summer Olympic Games, the Pentathlon (consisting of 5 events) and the Decathlon (consisting of ten events). He won eight of the 15 contests and earned a Gold Medal in each event.

The Pentathlon was created based on the skills needed by a battlefield courier: Fencing, Shooting, Swimming, Running 200 Meters, and Horseback Riding, and was included in the 1912 Olympic Games for the first time.

The Decathlon's ten events included the Pole Vault. High Jump, Long Jump, Javelin, Shot Put, Discus, 110-meter Hurdles, and the 100-meter, 400-meter, and 1500-meter races. (Caitlyn Jenner became famous as Bruce Jenner for winning the Decathlon at the 1976 Olympic Games for the historians in the crowd.)



Last Minute Crisis

Just prior to the start of the 1500-meter race, he reached into his bag to pull out his shoes and they were missing. This was the last event, and the winner of the race would win the Gold Medal for the Decathlon.

There are different theories about what happened to his shoes and why they were missing or who took them or what happened, but Jim Thorpe had a matter of minutes to get to the starting line and didn’t have shoes.

• He frantically went to his teammates and asked if they had any extra shoes.
• The stories vary, but one version says that someone had a single shoe, but it was too small, but he squeezed his foot into it anyway.
• Legend also says that he found another shoe in a trash bin, but it was too big, and he had to put on a couple of extra socks to make it fit.

Then he went out and competed against the greatest athletes in the world, and won the race at 1500 meters. Wearing the same shoes, he won the Gold Medal in the Pentahalon the same day.

Was it fair for Jim Thorpe to have his shoes disappear minutes before an Olympic event?

No. And if my shoes are stolen before a race, I probably won’t win it. (Come to think of it, I probably won’t win a race with my own shoes.)

The story, however, is a reminder that you don’t have to give in to the excuses that can hold you back. So, what if life hasn’t been fair? What are you going to do about it today? (It’s always today, isn’t it?)

Whatever you started with or without this morning; stolen shoes, ill health, failed relationships, or something else, that doesn’t have to stop you from running your race. 

You will experience more success in life if you can get over the excuses and get on with moving ahead. 

You can focus on reasons, or you can have results, but you generally cannot have both.