--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I just love playing so much, competing so…" description: "\"I just love playing so much, competing so much. You're able to put your losses behind you. One of the greatest attributes a decathlete can have is the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e77/dan-o-brien-17274_ability_i-just-love-playing-so-much-competing-so_1851642.jpg" --- # I just love playing so much, competing so much. You're… ![“I just love playing so much, competing so much. You're able to put your losses behind you. One of the greatest attributes a decathlete can have is the ability to forget... to look ahead, not behind.” quote by Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e77/dan-o-brien-17274_ability_i-just-love-playing-so-much-competing-so_1851642.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e77/dan-o-brien-17274_ability_i-just-love-playing-so-much-competing-so_1851642.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e77/dan-o-brien-17274_ability_i-just-love-playing-so-much-competing-so_1851642.jpg) > “I just love playing so much, competing so much. You're able to put your losses behind you. One of the greatest attributes a decathlete can have is the ability to forget... to look ahead, not behind.” [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Athletes must let go of past defeats and focus on future performance. **In simple terms:** Forget losses, look forward. Key Takeaway Cultivate forward‑looking resilience. Themes sports resilience mindset Mood determined optimistic Type motivational athletic When to use this quote - competition - training - mental recovery - career planning Key Concepts psychology of sport goal setting Questions to Reflect On - What strategies help you release past setbacks? - How does focusing forward improve performance? A Different Perspective Past failures can still haunt without deliberate practice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Competing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competing/) [Losses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losses/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Olympics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/olympics/) ## Related quotes > [That's important when you're on this NBA journey, in different cities, playing, competing - to really enjoy the whole thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-harris/that-s-important-when-you-re-on-this-nba-journey-in-different-cities/) [Tobias Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-harris/) > [I play football, not to only enjoy it - and I love the challenge of playing and competing with the best players - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petr-cech/i-play-football-not-to-only-enjoy-it-and-i-love-the-challenge-of/) [Petr Cech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petr-cech/) > [Winning isn't everything, but playing and competing and striving and going through things can be a lot of fun and really important. As long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-shue/winning-isn-t-everything-but-playing-and-competing-and-striving-and/) [Andrew Shue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-shue/) > [If we're playing and competing at the level we want to and we know we can, then nothing else is really going to matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-sweat/if-we-re-playing-and-competing-at-the-level-we-want-to-and-we-know-we/) [Brooke Sweat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-sweat/) > [I think you learn a lot from losses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cain-velasquez/i-think-you-learn-a-lot-from-losses/) [Cain Velasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cain-velasquez/) > [The most successful war seldom pays for its losses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-most-successful-war-seldom-pays-for-its-losses/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [You learn from losses and enjoy the every day, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manu-ginobili/you-learn-from-losses-and-enjoy-the-every-day-too/) [Manu Ginobili](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manu-ginobili/) > [“If you do what we ask you to do, the victories will belong to you, and the losses to me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-smith/if-you-do-what-we-ask-you-to-do-the-victories-will-belong-to-you-and/) [Dean Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-smith/) > [We learn from our wins, but we gain much more from our losses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-walters/we-learn-from-our-wins-but-we-gain-much-more-from-our-losses/) [Tim Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-walters/) > [NBC News found that FEMA has redrawn maps even for properties that have repeatedly filed claims for flood losses from previous storms. At least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/nbc-news-found-that-fema-has-redrawn-maps-even-for-properties-that/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [I take losses very personal and very serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pau-gasol/i-take-losses-very-personal-and-very-serious/) [Pau Gasol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pau-gasol/) > [Losses of a kind of satisfaction that have no market equivalent don't show up in the calculations of economists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/losses-of-a-kind-of-satisfaction-that-have-no-market-equivalent-don-t/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [If you look at her or him and think Somethings wrong with them; weirdos? don't be quick to judge someone ;because a paragraph isn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nayely-saldana/if-you-look-at-her-or-him-and-think-somethings-wrong-with-them/) [Nayely Saldana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nayely-saldana/) > [Champions learn from their - I'm not going to say failures - but they learn from the losses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-alcaraz/champions-learn-from-their-i-m-not-going-to-say-failures-but-they/) [Carlos Alcaraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-alcaraz/) > [Everybody has losses - it's unavoidable in life. Sharing our pain is very healing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/everybody-has-losses-it-s-unavoidable-in-life-sharing-our-pain-is/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) ## More by Dan O'Brien > [You have to be able to be a good loser. You have to be okay knowing you're going to fail every day in something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/you-have-to-be-able-to-be-a-good-loser-you-have-to-be-okay-knowing/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [It's important for me to think I'm mixed-race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/it-s-important-for-me-to-think-i-m-mixed-race/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [To me, the decathlon is its own little society and I am part of that culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/to-me-the-decathlon-is-its-own-little-society-and-i-am-part-of-that/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [You can only look forward to a South Dakota winter if, as with childbirth, remodeling a house, or writing a novel, you're able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/you-can-only-look-forward-to-a-south-dakota-winter-if-as-with/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [You need to become more than one type of athlete. You have to be a sprinter, a weight man and a distance guy all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/you-need-to-become-more-than-one-type-of-athlete-you-have-to-be-a/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [If you never give up, you'll be successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/if-you-never-give-up-you-ll-be-successful/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [I think what my parents did was perfect. They were strict, concerned about my safety and held me back just a little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/i-think-what-my-parents-did-was-perfect-they-were-strict-concerned/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [After the failure in '92, my goal was to be a good pole vaulter. I used that as motivation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/after-the-failure-in-92-my-goal-was-to-be-a-good-pole-vaulter-i-used/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [It took me time to realize that the men who won Olympic gold medals in the decathlon are just men, just like me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/it-took-me-time-to-realize-that-the-men-who-won-olympic-gold-medals/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [As a young child, I was never a crier. I never cried to get my way, or even when I was in pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/as-a-young-child-i-was-never-a-crier-i-never-cried-to-get-my-way-or/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [I didn't get a ton of interest from colleges in baseball and football, but I was outstanding in track and had the sense that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/i-didn-t-get-a-ton-of-interest-from-colleges-in-baseball-and-football/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [Try everything, because you're never sure what you're going to be great at.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/try-everything-because-you-re-never-sure-what-you-re-going-to-be/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [When I was little, I wasn't allowed to put sugar on my breakfast cereal because it made me so hyper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/when-i-was-little-i-wasn-t-allowed-to-put-sugar-on-my-breakfast/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [I call myself a chameleon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/i-call-myself-a-chameleon/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) > [As a young athlete, it was first about having fun; then it was about winning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-o-brien/as-a-young-athlete-it-was-first-about-having-fun-then-it-was-about/) [Dan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) [Explore all 37 Dan O'Brien quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-o-brien/) ## More Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [“the importance of ability. The things that make a great job great, I discovered, are rare and valuable. 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I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [You can only do the work to the very best of your ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-baranski/you-can-only-do-the-work-to-the-very-best-of-your-ability/) [Christine Baranski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-baranski/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Bobby had faith in my ability as a singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-london/bobby-had-faith-in-my-ability-as-a-singer/) [Julie London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-london/) [Browse all 9,990 Ability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I just love playing so much, competing so much. 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