If you care about winning a particular game, contest, or competition, the most important thing isn’t honing your own skill or preparing your mentality. Those are vital, yes! But not the most important thing. The most important thing is making sure that everyone is playing by the same rules you are.
Imagine playing a game of one-on-one basketball with someone. There’s no ref or anything, it’s just you and the other person. But the other person decides that what they want to happen is to ruin your day. They “win” if they take the ball, throw it over the fence into the river, and then laugh.
Guess what? They will win.
They’re playing a totally different game than you, and that means you can’t win at the game you want to play, even if you’re much better at that game than your opponent.
There are plenty of examples in life. Before you dedicate yourself to trying to win, make sure everyone else is at least trying to play.
The Opportunity Machine 