CLAIM THE WINS

What is a win? As they often do, the new year started with a flood of inspirational messages. Claim the wins. Celebrate the wins. Seek the small wins. It definitely sets us up for a positive year. But really, what is a win? And how do we measure success?

It's only February and New Year'

s resolutions have been kept or forgotten. We're back at work and trying to achieve. With December holidays a distant memory, it sometimes feels like a win to just get up and show up every morning.

Maybe the context of the world we live in can offer us some guidance?

Well, imagine you're a president and you really, really want to win a peace prize. Just when all hope seems lost, a certain soccer federation invents a peace prize just for you. And when you think life just can't get any better, a real peace prize winner gives her award to you. Then, people on social media get into the spirit - and start offering you their dog show trophies and Employee of the Month certificates.

Suddenly winning means everything. Or nothing. (I can't tell which...)

As we speak, the world is talking about Oscar nominations. As always, there's discussion around who should've been but wasn't - and who shouldn't have been but was. You make a movie about the Wicked Witch of the West and you get ten nominations. A year later you make a sequel and you get nothing. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it gives plenty of material to film critics and conspiracy theorists.

Then there are those actors who are “definitely” going to get nominated, and then they aren't. It's one thing to suffer a secret disappointment, but it's another thing when you're a Hollywood star and everybody's talking. Some movie stars speak out in advance and say awards aren't important. Which could be a defensive strategy, or maybe they truly mean it. Surely the work should speak for itself... although it's nice to have a gold statue as an added bonus, right?

February is also Olympics time, with athletes competing for top honours in Italy. It always feels a little unbalanced when the world competes in winter sports, but only certain countries have experience of snow. Then again, a now-famous Jamaican bobsled team put an end to that kind of thinking. And maybe it all balances out during the Summer Olympics. (There's a statistical research study in there, if anyone has extra time on their hands.)

Later this year we'll see plenty of winning, when three nations jointly host a certain global soccer tournament. The USA, Canada and Mexico will be hosting the tournament collectively across sixteen cities. If you've ever tried to plan a party with friends, you can understand the potential challenges. Let's hope they have a very active WhatsApp group to plan all the logistics.

Back to the subject of winning, there's always a lot of emphasis placed on home ground advantage. With three home grounds in the mix, things are bound to get interesting.

So, let's celebrate our wins and the wins of others, even if we're still not sure exactly what winning really means. In seeking some wisdom, I turn as I often do to the words of my five-year-old son: “Even if you win, you don't win. Because it's only a game.”