I spent a significant part of my life involved in amateur motorsports. From my earliest recollection, I wanted to race cars and for a time in my thirties and forties, I did. In racing school, the focus was on car control and safety much more than on speed. Our instructors told us these were the disciplines to work on to be able to go faster. As the Navy SEALs say “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” Some however, sought to go faster through spending cubic dollars on what drivers jokingly referred to as “go fast parts”. For the most part, those who went that route seemed to crash or break their cars faster than before, but never drive better, finish better or win. There were guys who bought into the classic Western philosophy that “more is better”. About the only thing that I saw go faster was their money.

As a musician, I’ve seen some lament the quality or features of their instrument. If only they could afford better, they could play better. I have golfer friends who switch clubs in and out of their bag in search of the “better” putter, driver, wedge. I can’t think of a single instance where it worked as a permanent solution. I’ve wanted better cars, jobs and things. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been guilty of wishing for different or better or more.

No matter what the endeavor is, I’ve found that when I am looking outside of myself for the better or the more, I’m looking in the wrong place. The external more cannot possibly bring out the better in me. But the better in me will certainly lead to the more externally.

When I am “better is more” mode, I am asking myself “what can I do?”. I am the subject and focus of my resolution, not someone or something else. I put the responsibility for more and better on my own shoulders. I can seek out others for advice and wisdom. I can read and educate myself. I can take a class, attend a webinar, watch a Ted talk. The resources to attain to more are limitless, all the more so via the internet. You Tube has more creators offering free tutorials on just about anything human beings can wish to create or achieve.

Nick Vujicic was born with no arms and legs. Today, he is married, the father of four and an international speaker and author. The title of his first book, written in 2007 is Life Without Limits. He speaks to students, advises departments of governments and corporate executives on living without boundaries and achieving excellence. He faced his physical limitations and asked himself what his limits truly were. He is still asking.

Niki Lauda was the 1975 Formula One World Champion when, in 1976, he crashed and was burned so severely a priest was brought to his hospital bedside to administer last rites. He couldn’t see or speak, but he could hear and he got the nurses to keep the TV and radio on 24/7 so his mind could focus on the sounds of life. He refused to die. Six weeks later, he raced again. In 1977 and 1984 he won two more World Championships as a driver. He also won World Championships as a constructor from 2014 until 2020 when he passed away.

Tiger Woods just finished The Masters after carding back-to-back 78’s and finishing near the bottom of the field. This after nearly needing to have his leg amputated following a car accident 14 months ago. In between then and today, he faced the possibility of not only never playing golf again, but never walking again. Several past PGA major champions didn’t even make the cut, but Tiger did. He looked at the reality of his permanently deformed leg and rebuilt his swing around his new reality, then went out and outplayed fully healthy men ten years younger or more.

These are not men who asked “why?”. They are men who asked “how”? They sought their better from within themselves. They didn’t accept what was handed to them as a final sentence for their lives. They asked what they could do and how to do it. They kept asking until they got their answer. Then they went to work.

Each one can tell their own story and there are thousands of other stories you can read by men and women just like them. Not everyone required a crisis to act. Most just wanted more and didn’t wait around for it to be given and decided to not quit until they had their more. They became better and more was the natural result.

I cannot be un-talked out of this fact: If they did it, I can do it too. None of their success was from something outside of themselves. None of them got something I will never have a chance to get. No one who ever rose above their circumstances to achieve their dreams ever did it the easy way. They simply never quit. They refused to accept no. The “no” in their life became “not this way, some other way”. The “not this time” became “next time”. They turned it into that. It wasn’t done for them, it was a deliberate choice and a chosen resolve.

Thomas Edison tried “two thousand” different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing.” Edison replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We now know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb.”

The Bible tells a story about the end of time when God separates people into sheep and goats. As I read that passage carefully, I’m left with the impression that the only difference between a sheep and a goat comes down to what they did or did not do.

I choose to do. Doers become better and better is more.