Coffee Is For Closers

Finishing. You can either do it or you can't.

This fact defines winners and losers in every walk of life.

Any individual or group can cruise along to success when things come easy from the start, but winners create their own success after facing adversity and manage to do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals. Now when, I use the term 'losers,' I'm not pointing to people who come out on the short end of a contest or on a scoreboard (I've lost plenty of games in my lifetime), I'm referring to people who go away from what they know is right (i.e. cheat) or just give up altogether when the first sign of adversity hits them.

Of course, no matter what you do for a living, you need to have poise under pressure to get where they want life. I simply use sports as an example because of the endless exhibitions of courage and persistence that are on display in front of millions of people each day offer us a tangible sequence of events that exposes how a group performs 'in the clutch.'

Some teams thrive when the game is on the line and they are rewarded for it. The San Antonio Spurs have a chance to clinch the NBA Title as I type. In Game 6 of the NBA Finals in Miami, the Spurs' lead was cut to 1 but they didn't panic and immediately stormed back with an 12-0 run of their own to claim their largest lead of the game (to this point).

Not panicking and sticking to your proverbial guns in crunch time is the most admirable trait of champions that I can see. That's why I always look at the third-down conversion rates of championships football teams. You can always bet that it will be a pretty good percentage because great teams always seem to come up with big plays when the they need them most.

To this day, I still remember going to Camp Randall Stadium on Nov. 19, 1997 to watch No. 24 Wisconsin take on eventual national champion Michigan, ranked No. 2 at the time, with eventual Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson and Brian Griese. I couldn't dig up the box score, but I remember that every time the Badger crowd and defense would get revved up for a much-needed, big, third-down stop, the Wolverine offense never wavered and would convert and move the chains. The belief on that sideline, even under the intense scrutiny of more than 80,000 Badger fans, was so powerful that it didn't matter how loud it was, the Wolverines were going to pull out the win.

And on the other hand is my favorite baseball team, the Chicago Cubs. This a cursed franchise if I ever saw one and they never seem to come up with big plays when it matters most. I'm not sure what it is. They just lose composure and stop doing what brought them to the edge of success. The Cubs just collectively tense up and stop believing in themselves.

Everyone knows they haven't won a World Series since 1908 and everyone remembers that meltdown in 2003 when it seemed like they just gave up and started feeling sorry for themselves after Steve Bartman interfered with Moises Alou down the left-field line. Tonight, the Cubs were ahead 4-1 heading into the ninth at St. Louis, but Starlin Castro was able to come up with the play they needed to preserve the 4-2 win.

I guess Blake from Glengarry Glen Ross is wrong tonight! The Cubs get to drink their coffee!



And remember, sports are merely an example of the importance of being able to finish. If you don't get that big sale or promotion you were looking for, stick with what got you to this point, fight through that adversity and be ready to pounce on that next opportunity.

My name is Mike and I'm a motivational blogger.