The Eye of the Tiger

I’m getting older - not old mind you, but older. I sense this because I find myself infatuated with the Big 80s channel on the radio. Driving around recently hoping to hear anything from Aerosmith or Van Halen, I was treated instead to an oldie from Survivor titled Eye of the Tiger. What’s the first thing that we think of when we hear the first part of this song? You know, the duh . . . duh-duh-duh . . . duh-duh duh?

Rocky Balboa, of course!

To me, the song embodies Rocky’s continuing battle to gain respect, learn from his mistakes, overcome obstacles and emerge from his fights victorious - even when he was a huge underdog. Many of us see a lot of our lives in the storyline.

No one can dispute that the Rocky series was exceedingly popular - grossing over $1 billion in box office sales since the first movie came out in 1976. The series was popular for one primary reason - it motivated everyone in the audience to improve, to be better than they were that evening in the movie theater. I distinctly remember leaving the movie and making a resolution to be a better person - physically, mentally, relationally, etc. Rocky’s character taught each of us about desire, hard work and competitiveness. Rocky was not the strongest or fastest guy around and he definitely was never given an advantage - and he still found a way to succeed! In the end, Rocky taught us about winning.

So, why is the concept of winning relevant on an ethics/character blog? I think you know where I’m going with this.

I have been observing and thinking a lot about the current generation of young people lately and one thing in particular is troubling to me - a general lack of competitiveness. This non-competitive nature is not universal by any means - but it’s noticeable.

In my academic role, I find it odd that some very intelligent young adults find it difficult to motivate themselves to reach beyond the assignments for insights, to attend anything offered outside of class, or to sit and think deeply about their purpose in life. Instead, they ponder what to wear to the parties happening that evening, whether X is going to be at the bar, if their fake ID will work and how many text messages await when class is over.

It’s as if the hard work necessary to achieve at this level is too overwhelming, too stressful and that gaining the ability to think is not as important as their professors claim. In the end, they don’t seem to care that other students are outperforming them. This lack of perspective shortchanges the profound opportunity each student has to make meaningful life improvements and succeed academically and in the workplace.

When students underachieve, I watch them shrug it off and make excuses for why it happened. “The class is too hard, the questions aren’t fair, I’m too tired, I’m too busy, that wasn’t in the slides, school isn’t all about grades” - sound familiar? The worst part of all of this is that no modifications in attitude are made and the underachievement reoccurs. It’s like Einstein said - “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Although poor results will always stem from poor preparation and a lack of desire, what is happening here is discouraging to me and, I can tell, even more discouraging to those directly involved. These young people recognize that something is wrong with this picture. I can see it in their eyes but not in their subsequent efforts. You might think that this is a characteristic of every generation of young people but I disagree. There is something different about what’s going on here.

A major part of the problem is that we adults have been pooh-poohing competitiveness for a while now. Youth soccer teams don’t “win” 2-1 anymore- they just “scored more goals than the other team.” Kids are banned from playing dodge ball in elementary schools because the game is “unfair, exclusionary and war-like.” There is an argument that basketball or other team sports are more appropriate for kids, but let’s use that logic rather than a ridiculous “war-like” analogy. In fact, it would be enlightening to ask someone in Afghanistan whose village was recently overtaken by the Taliban if their life at all resembled an American second-grade dodge ball game. This whole anti-competition attitude is all just a bit ridiculous. However, it’s being inculcated in our youth and doing more harm than good.

It’s obvious why this is happening - parents and educators are trying to shield kids from the downsides of competitiveness. And, there are downsides. It is wrong when competitiveness turns people into bullies who needlessly take advantage of others using superior strength and talent. It is also wrong when the desire to win morphs people into poor losers.

By no means am I advocating for this type of ultra-competitiveness. Trust me, I know people of this ilk. Keep in mind that it is a very bad thing to find yourself kicked out of a mini-golf course for yelling at your seven-year-old cousin who is up by four strokes. These downsides are less relevant to my point here, however, because they are part of an unhealthy desire to win. What I am advocating for is a reinvigorated motivation in young people to achieve healthy victories.

In life, sometimes it is important to be a bit competitive and strive to do the best you can given your resources and priorities. This is especially true when the goal is out of your immediate reach and when success requires great effort. Adopting this attitude provides motivational fuel helping you achieve your goals. Instead of excessively pondering the social scene, you should expend the extra energy and ponder how you can use your passions to make a contribution to the greater good. You should want to make our country and the world a better place. If you desire a more economically-based argument, keep in mind that you will soon enter a workplace where your boss will expect a competitive desire to achieve for the company and its stakeholders. Underachievement - allowing competitors to outsell, out-market, or out-think you - whether based on a lack of motivation or a general attitude of non-competitiveness will quickly cause you to dust off your resume.

Think of it this way - achieving one of the best grades in class or outperforming your peers/competitors ethically and with integrity is a healthy form of winning. The point is that we all need to realize that it’s okay to try and win in life. And, who knows, actually striving towards overachievement might even make positive results more likely to occur Commensurate with this statement is that trying to win means that you will certainly lose at times. It is also okay to lose in life as long as you prepared sufficiently, gave it enough effort and learned something from the occasion - at least you gave it a shot.

I enjoyed playing dodge ball as a kid and was hit in the head a few too many times for my parents I’m sure. But, I learned a great deal from getting hit, sitting out and anticipating my chance to get back in the game. When I got knocked down, I got up and kept playing - I wanted to win. This is an instinctive reaction for a kid that shouldn’t be stifled. When I got up, I had a renewed desire to: (1) do better so that I could stay in the game, (2) avoid getting hit the same way as last time and (3) help my team succeed. Dodge ball was good for me - when I won I was happy and when I lost I was sad but I learned that I could not win every time. In fact most of my losses in life have been sad but have been good for me in the long run. I have developed an attitude of consistent persistence that grows stronger every time I lose.

Young people - it’s time to adopt an attitude of healthy competitiveness and a desire to win. The world needs you to get up when you fall and try again, to rise above seemingly insurmountable challenges and to strive for authentic success. None of this can happen by osmosis. So, find the energy, take a few risks, try to overachieve more often than not, watch a Rocky movie - whatever it takes. Now it’s your time to make it happen . . . duh . . . duh-duh-duh . . . duh-duh duh!