by Bill Curry

I am an only son. On the first day my father looked at me and said, “Let it be understood that life is competition, and that joy is found only in victory.”

The tiny picture is remarkably clear. The young father is on his knees in a bathing suit. His arms are extended, index fingers pointed inward. Suspended from those miniature bars, hanging on for dear life, is a naked six-month-old, Little Bill, me. Having seen it all my life, I had never given it a second thought until my wife, Carolyn, picked it up and said, “Wow! Here’s the story of your life!” And so it was that Little Bill was conditioned early to hang on, never quit, and to win…no matter what.

Major Willie Alexander Curry made every day a competition, every group effort a leadership drill. I chafed, rebelled at times, but mostly loved it, and him. Wherever I have landed, I have usually become the leader, even when I was undeserving. My outcomes have ranged from abject failure to surprising success, and I am just now beginning to understand the factors in the difference.



While I was often a reluctant leader, I have been forced to understand leadership’s painful lessons. Simply put, I have learned that there are two pains in life, the pain of discipline and the pain of regret. You choose.

Every decision to take the honorable, painful path of discipline creates greater likelihood that you will choose well the next time there is a moment of truth. Choosing to lie, cheat or quit reinforces the path of least resistance, the easy way out.

You literally become that which you have chosen.

We are creatures of free will becoming creatures of habit! The pain of discipline is merciless but brief, usually a matter of doing without pleasure or pushing past a prior level of endurance. The rewards associated with consistency of discipline are incalculable…a life of integrity, accomplishment and peace of mind.

In business, it is often the difference in prosperity vs. prison. The “quick buck” schemes that destroyed our economy in recent years were usually not the result of sincere errors in judgment.

The pain of regret lasts forever. Guilt, shame and constant distraction plague the habitual coward. Rationalized decisions stack up. Old habits seem like normal behavior and are defended as such. Productivity wanes, and excuses abound. You find yourself wondering what happened and why.

The good news is that it is never too late to begin doing the right thing.

Two pains – you choose.

A former Super Bowl and All-Pro lineman in the National Football League, Bill Curry is now the head football coach at Georgia State University and a Distinguished Executive Fellow at the Robinson College. Coach Curry’s column is a regular feature of State of Business.