The man in the arena
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It’s easy to criticize when you haven’t walked a mile in someone else’s shoes. And when facing criticism you sometimes have to dig deep and keep walking.
LeBron James writes Man In The Arena on his shoes before every game. It’s inspired by a famous speech Theodore Roosevelt gave in 1910:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
It challenges me to see things from other people’s perspectives before I criticize. To wonder if I would act so differently or do better after a mile In their shoes.
It also obviously encourages me to continue to take risks, to try, to create, to build and to lead. In the face of criticism and in the face of disappointment. Sometimes you have to be patient and do your best Johnny Walker impression!