Without the will to prepare...

Without the will to prepare the desire to win means nothing.

Embedded, not so deeply, inside each and every human being is the must win attitude. We can’t simply accept that another person could possibly be better than us. Whether the competition is academic, athletic, financial, or involves a relationship ‘I’ believe ‘I’ have to be victorious. However, this statement sends a stern warning to those who simply hope to excel at their particular activity; one fails to celebrate victory unless the proper preparation is carried out.

We can hope, dream, and desire to achieve a goal all day long, but if we lack the motivation, passion, and will to prepare ourselves to reach our goal the desire to win means nothing. In eleven simple words this maxim sums up what coaches, teachers, parents, and employers want their pupils to have engraved in their mind. This maxim is not ground shattering news. It simply states a truth we have known for millenniums. Despite the fact that everyone knows it takes focus, determination, and work to reach the pinnacle of any dream we try to achieve our success by putting in as little of that work and time as we believe we can sneak by with. The problem with this attitude is that we then ask ourselves, for example, “Why did I just receive a B in that class while Joe received an A?” The obvious answer lies in the fact Joe put as much time into studying as he needed to achieve success where ‘I’ did not. However, we commonly will try to avoid accepting that fact and try to spin the truth into blaming some other extenuating circumstance. We do not want to admit to ourselves that our own laziness caused our failure. If when striving to win or achieve goals we keep this maxim in mind we will stay focused on the correct path to success.

Using inductive reasoning this statement sends a clear message of how to avoid failure when trying to achieve success. It does not necessarily explain how to achieve the success, but says how not preparing results in no real chance of success. Taking the small and focused statement, without the will to prepare, we are exposed to the broad truth that the desire to win means nothing. By just failing to accept the specific fact that we must work hard and prepare to win, everything about winning (even our desire to win) means nothing because it won’t come true. Inductive reasoning is essential to making this maxim meaningful because it demonstrates that by skipping one step (albeit an important one) in the process terminates the entire chance of winning.

The presentation of this statement is strait forward. No fancy clues, no analogies, and nothing has to be assumed in order to understand it’s in depth meaning. It avoids humor because it portrays an essential message. Without the will to prepare the desire to win means nothing neither overstates nor understates the importance of its meaning. This statement could be considered a coaches best friend because it targets the problem (not wanting to prepare), and it shows that unless this challenge is overcome the hope of success will not mean anything.

The one thing that ties this maxim together is the structure, most notably the first and last words. Both without and nothing are extreme words. They do not describe or allow for an intermediate opinion. The placement at the beginning and end of such clearly defined words magnifies the importance of preparation if one desires to win. These are the only two words in this statement that have such clearly defined and passionate meanings. With these two bold words capping off the statement, the more emotionally driven middle part injects feeling into the maxims reader. Will, prepare, desire, and win all mean something slightly different in each situation, but they trigger an emotional and heartfelt response. With these more vaguely defined words surrounded by intense, clearly defined words the structure helps support the message of this maxim. The presentation and the structure make this a clear-cut and strait forward message.

When analyzing the diction used I found that it was closely linked to the structure. There are no rhymes or extremely elaborate words used, but they all tie each other and the entire statement together. The word choice is similar to the overall impact of the statement which is plainly presented and clearly defined. The effect of this diction is that anyone who hears this statement should understand the importance of its meaning.

This maxim is original. Even though one could argue that a statement so simple and obvious should be considered a cliché I believe it is not because it is not as commonly repeated as the clichés our society loves. This statement greatly impacts anyone who hears it because it is original and yet means so much. The fact that we must face the challenge of preparation in order to even hope to win hits home with everyone.

We know that success does not come easy. People posses certain talents, but none of us can win what we set out for if we fail to work hard and prepare for the challenges that face us on our journey. This simple sentence carries so much meaning because it reminds us in a compact way that we must have will and determination to prepare if we hope to be considered a winner.