This speech in the video reminds all of us that no matter what burden you’re currently carrying, no matter how overwhelmed you might feel – you can muster the fighting spirit within yourself and continue claw back what is rightfully yours, even if it is one inch at a time.

Transcript :

I don’t know what to say really.

Three minutes
to the biggest battle of our professional lives
all comes down to today.

Either we heal as a team
or we are going to crumble.

Inch by inch
play by play
till we’re finished.

We are in hell right now, gentlemen
Believe me

And we can stay here
and get the shit kicked out of us
or
we can fight our way back
into the light.
We can climb out of hell.
One inch, at a time.

Now I can’t do it for you.
I’m too old.
I look around and I see these young faces
and I think
I mean
I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make.
I uh….
I pissed away all my money
believe it or not.
I chased off
anyone who has ever loved me.

And lately,
I can’t even stand the face I see in the mirror.

You know when you get old in life
things get taken from you.

That’s, that’s part of life.

But,
you only learn that when you start losing stuff.

You find out that life is just a game of inches.

So is football.

Because in either game
life or football
the margin for error is so small.
I mean
one half step too late or to early
you don’t quite make it.
One half second too slow or too fast
and you don’t quite catch it.

The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They are in every break of the game
every minute, every second.

On this team, we fight for that inch
On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us
to pieces for that inch.

We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch.

Because we know
when we add up all those inches
that’s going to make the fucking difference
between WINNING and LOSING
between LIVING and DYING.

I’ll tell you this
in any fight
it is the guy who is willing to die
who is going to win that inch.
And I know
if I am going to have any life anymore
it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch
because that is what LIVING is.
The six inches in front of your face.

Now I can’t make you do it.
You gotta look at the guy next to you.
Look into his eyes.
Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you.
You are going to see a guy
who will sacrifice himself for this team
because he knows when it comes down to it,
you are gonna do the same thing for him.

That’s a team, gentlemen
and either we heal now, as a team,
or we will die as individuals.

That’s football guys.

That’s all it is.

Now, what are you gonna do?

A japanese friend on twitter just shared this with me, which I found very meaningful :

盛年不重来，
一日难再晨。
及时当勉励，
岁月不待人。

Here’s my interpretation of the meaning of this poem :

盛年不重来 : Prime years do not return

During our prime years, we have a natural abundance of energy.  We could sleep late or pull an all-nighter, eat junk food and yet the following day, we’re still filled with exuberance and have a seemingly tireless physical body.  Wonderful, isn’t it?

However, this period, once passed, will never come back again.  As we age, the physical body deteriorates (one of the cruelest facts about being human). So, in your prime years, you have to make hay while the sun shines!

That is not to say that the story ends once you’ve passed your prime – in most cases, people become wiser and more mature.  Of course, this will depend on your past decisions and actions.  Our life at the present is always the summation of all our thoughts and actions – Everything counts.

If you govern your mind and take care of your body well, you will find that as you mature, you gain wisdom and this will make yesterday’s problems look like child’s play.

一日难再晨 : Each day comes with only one morning

Everyday, the morning only occurs once – this is the most important time of the day and we must start the day right.  If you’re a keen reader of personal development material, you will know that many other success literature emphasizes on starting the day with a mini-victory, because it sets the momentum for the rest of the day.

The achievement of a mini-victory at the start of the day makes you feel good about yourself – it raises your self-esteem.  It makes you feel unstoppable and spurs you to finish the day strong as well.

On a personal note, it is a good habit to force yourself to sleep early and get at least 7 hours of sleep every night.  To perform your best, you need to be at your best – and it is your responsibility to ensure that you are well-rested the night before.  If you stay up late, you’re merely borrowing future time, which might potentially sabotage your tomorrow and that simply keeps you trapped in the vicious cycle.

及时当勉励 : Encourage and motivate at the right moments

Throughout the day, there will be moments of disappointments and frustrations.  It is in these times that we must continue to motivate and encourage ourselves to keep moving forward. Small victories like these lead to our eventual success.

You have to remember that motivation is like a fuel – it needs to be replenished.  You know that you need to eat when you’re hungry; in the same way, you need to encourage and motivate yourself when you’re feeling down.  Be nice to yourself and don’t allow yourself to wallow in self-pity because all that does is to keep you spiraling downwards.

Recognize that more often than not things will not go the way we want them to.  The important thing to know is that such events are there to mold us – braving such adversities builds our dignity and strengthens our character.  It is this process that makes you the person you truly want to become.

岁月不待人 : Time waits for no one

Unfortunately, the hands of the clock will not turn back even if you were to realize your mistakes and repent later on in life.  As the saying goes, time and tide waits for no man.  Any time that is not spent well is gone forever, most of the time leaving one with a heavy heart filled with regrets.

“We suffer one of two things. Either the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. You’ve got to choose discipline, versus regret, because discipline weighs ounces and regret weighs tons.“  – Jim Rohn

A week ago I was in a cab to pick up my car when I encountered an interesting cabbie.  I was gazing through the window when the cabbie said (translated), “That guy is walking really slow.”

Me : huh?

Cabbie : That guy crossing the road…. he’s walking exceptionally slow.

You see, we were at a junction where pedestrians were crossing right in front of us.

Me : uh huh…

Cabbie : You know, people who walk slowly never achieve anything in life.

Me : oh….. ok… (well I try not to generalize so easily…)

Cabbie : When they walk slowly, they tend to do all other things slowly as well – they eat slower, they read slower, they get work done slower than others.  They will not be as successful as those who walk faster.  If you have friends like that, try to change them.  If they don’t change, leave them or they will drag you down too.

Me : Quite true.. by the way, my destination is right in front, you can drop me here.

And honestly, I agree that there is a lot of truth in what he said.  People who achieve things usually have a sense of urgency.  They want to get things done quickly.  The way you think is reflected in the little unconscious things that you do – like your walking speed.   Of course, I’m not saying we should be Usain Bolts every 100m we walk but we need to discipline ourselves to move faster towards our goals.   After all, time is scarce and we all want to achieve our goals sooner rather than later.

For me, I walked faster from that day onwards.