Playing the Odds

Successful gamblers, athletes, and even politicians – to randomly name a few – achieve their success by learning everything they can about the variables that influence their ability to triumph. There are obstacles that work against the competitor and those that help. Those who strive to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative – to coin a phrase – will “play the odds” to their favor.
A gambler will avoid the long odds of an older horse that wins fewer races and performs poorly at certain tracks, while favoring the young, healthy horse that excels in any condition. [I’m not a gambler, so I hope this metaphor worked for you.]

I don't know art, but I know what I like

Sad, but true: politicians know that certain demographic slices of humanity regularly vote. Candidates know where these voters live, generally how they vote, and their likelihood of voting. Campaigns are expensive, so office seekers target specific voters and lean on them like their lives depend on it. In other words, politicians improve their lot by mobilizing the bloc of voters that will elect them and to hell with the rest. They are “playing the odds.”

A basketball player will most likely take chances on shooting many high-probability shots closer to the basket than the high-risk shots outside the perimeter. Or a football team will watch films of their opponents. The more they know about the environment and obstacles that will influence their success, the better their chances of exploiting those influences and making success their own.


This is not to suggest that high risk will not lead to high reward, but the chances of failure are greater when one opts for the long shot. In fact, there is a reason it is called a “long shot.” For the goal seeker and marathon runner, the chances of success are imminently greater when they identify the most powerful influences in their lives and nearer to the positive ones and cut loose the negative ones.

I call all of this “playing the odds to your favor.” By exposing yourself to the positive and motivational, and by removing the negative and stressful, you will your environment by controlling the influences that direct your life. You’ll be inspired with power and energy and confidence to accomplish anything.With confidence and hope, there is nothing you can’t do.

Playing the odds in your favor is, in my opinion, a critical component to training for and finishing the marathon; to achieving all your life’s goals; and to being happy and fulfilled in life.

What are some of the influences you must manage to help you play the odds? Motivation, energy, self-discipline. The negative forces of these influences, among many other challenges, can conspire to defeat your attempts to reach your goal. Without motivation, where’s the passion and desire for success? Without energy, where is the fuel that propels you toward the finish line? Without self-discipline, how will you commit to the hard work that’s required to reach any of life’s goals? These, in a manner of speaking, are the odds. You can “play the odds to your favor” or ignore them as they array themselves against you.