Bernie's Program
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“Playing to Win in the Game of Life”
 A Sample of Bernie Fratto's Program

An old Chinese proverb states, “May you live in interesting times.” I believe we are. We are a society infatuated with sport. We go to games and we watch them on TV. We cheer for our favorite teams, and our children. Some of us even compete well into our later years. Sports give us thrills, and the vision to dream, but most importantly they teach us life lessons. Lessons we can apply for our entire lives as we “play to win in the game of life.” 

They teach us the importance of giving our best even though there are no guarantees. They teach us to deal with setback, rejection, temporary defeat, and they teach us we are capable of doing more than we think we are.

You may have heard of Babe Ruth.... He struck 1,330 times. I bet you’ve heard of Johnny Unitas.... He was cut by 3 NFL teams....  Or, maybe you’ve heard of Walt Disney?.... He was fired from his first 2 newspaper jobs because his bosses said he had, “no creativity.” Perhaps Henry Ford? He filed bankruptcy 3 times before the Model T hit the road...

All four of these people shared a common trait. They knew how to “Play to Win in the Game of Life.”

Renowned lecturer and keynote speaker Art Mortell teaches us to enjoy failure and to thrive on anxiety. He quotes Mother Theresa when he says, “There are no problems, only gifts.” And Art Mortell communicates the importance of self-image as a determining factor in our ability and willingness to play to win in the game of life.

A 6 year-old boy receives a bat and ball for his birthday. He takes it out back to play, mom is watching through the kitchen window. He tosses the ball up, and swings and misses. Swings and misses again and again. He misses 20 times in a row. Mom covers up her eyes as her son rushes into the house yelling, “Mom, you wouldn’t believe it, I’m a great pitcher!”

Henry Ford once commissioned an executive to do a study. “Have it on my desk at 8:00am tomorrow,” he stated. At 8:30 he called the executive into his office, held the report in the air and said, “Is this the best you can do?” “Give it back,” the man said, “I’ll work on it, I was a little distracted last night.” He put the report on Ford’s desk the next morning at 8:00am, and once again Ford called him in at 8:30, held it up and said, “Is this the best you can do?” “Give it back one more time, I wasn’t feeling well and had to go to bed early.”

He placed the report on Ford’s desk the next morning at 8:00am, and once again was summoned at 8:30... “Is this the best you can do?” Ford bellowed.. .“That is the best I can do!” he exclaimed, I was up all night working on this project and I gave my best possible effort!” “OK,” Henry Ford sighed, “Now I’ll read it!”

There is greatness in everyone. “Playing to Win in the Game of Life” is about your attitude and the way you think, act, and react to the same challenges we all face. In this game, we can all be winners, and I will show you how.

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Winning and losing is not nearly as important as capitalizing on whatever happens to you in the game of life, you are always in control of how you react...To quote Theodore Roosevelt:

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered with failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither suffer much, nor enjoy much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."