sure that everyone has heard the statement “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” at least 100 times, but this is a statement that I truly believe in and try to live by. This is something I try to live by because it is completely true. What I mean is that if I want to succeed in life, I have to take chances and be unafraid to make a mistake. Like my dad always says,” If at first you don’t succeed, try again.”

By following this belief, it has affected my life in many ways. It has affected the choices I’ve made, as well as my attitude towards certain things. A choice that I’ve had to make in the past was whether or not to attend a private school or stay at my public school. As you can see, I chose to attend private school because it was a better school. If I had not gone, I probably would not get good grades and be as successful as I am today because I would not care as much about my education; I probably would’ve slacked off in all my classes. This was one of those situations where, if I had not decided to attend the private school, I probably would not get into a good college. It has affected my attitude towards certain things because I can look at it from two different perspectives. I can look at it from the perspective of “I really don’t care because it does not affect me.” Or “Maybe I can try to help and see if there is anything I can do.” This can apply to many situations such as if a friend is struggling, there may be something that I can do to help her, which may profit my abilities.

It also affects my work habits. It leads me to believe that, if I try my hardest and don’t give up, that I can get to the place I want to be in life. For example, during sports, I can either decide to contribute to the team by playing my hardest, or just sort of go through the motions. Everyone has their good and bad games, but should just try anyway and it could possible lead to greater things in life. An example of this would be if I wanted to get to college through a hockey scholarship, I would have to strive to be the best player on the team. It doesn’t matter if I am the best player, but only if I try to be as good as the best. My work ethic can also affect other people, as well. If someone sees how hard I am working, they could become inspired to try harder, too. Referring back to the hockey example, if someone on my team sees how hard I’m trying, they may step-up their game to try to match my attitude. This could contribute greatly to the team because everyone could eventually be playing at their peak ability. It all started with one person trying their hardest. I could not only inspire others, but others could inspire me to try my hardest.

I chose this belief because there was once a time in my life that i really had cared much about working hard at sports and school. I learned this lesson when i was confronted with the possibility of playing for a better hockey league, or staying at the low level league i was playing for in fourth grade. I could've continued to play for Tri-Valley hockey league- a mixed team, or play for the Lady Flames-all girls. I had already decided that i wanted to play for a different league, even before he offered the Lady Flames option. I was glad that my dad agreed that I could do better. He told me that I would have to try my hardest and really show him that my abilities were worth a better team. He told me that I needed to go outside a few days every week and practice shooting pucks and stick-handling. I agreed to these terms and conditions, and tried my hardest throughout the year. This proved to be rewarding because my dad agreed to let me try out for the Lady Flames. This experience lead me to the belief that "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take".

I chose this belief because I believe that it is something everyone should strive to live by, even if they don't completely agree. It helps me reach my goals and try my hardest at everything I do.

Even though others may not believe in the same things that I do, I still try to live by the belief that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.