It was the one-year anniversary of a start-up business and a group of eight optimists gathered in celebration. There was excitement in the air… a sense of accomplishment permeated.
The group was joined by a mentor who had been the CEO of a Fortune 500 firm. He shared realistic advice regarding the work that would lay ahead, and then the following words of encouragement:
If you think you’re beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t, it’s almost a cinch you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost. For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a person’s will, it’s all a state of mind.
If you think you’re out-classed, you are; you’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself, before you can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles does not always go, to one who’s stronger or faster than…
but, sooner or later, the one who wins, is the one who thinks they can!
Everyone who was in the room that day remembers those words well, even though decades have passed. And everyone who was there then realizes today how true those words continue to be.