The immediate goal is winning on the field, but the ultimate goal is winning in life. (A paraphrase of Gil Haskell, professional football coach)
Successful athletes focus on the task at hand—win the game, defeat the opponent, capture the prize. Everything else is secondary at the moment. But, as everyone knows, there’s more to life than a particular game, race, or contest. Whatever the immediate goal, every person has to give his or her greatest effort to be a successful person in life, living to one’s fullest potential.
Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1).