You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.

Wayne Gretzky

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take." - Wayne Gretzky
 

Wayne Gretzky, a famous hockey player, first said this quote in January 16, 1983 during an interview. The interviewer told Wayne, "You've taken a lot of shots this year" so Wayne replied, "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take. Even though there is only a 1-5% chance probably of scoring." 

I really like this quote because even though Wayne was referring to hockey, you can use it as motivation for nearly everything. He's basically saying that you're going to fail 100% of the time that you don't try so you might as well just try because even a really low percent of succeeding is better than 0%. Plus, you never know what could happen. Maybe taking a random chance at something might actually work. It's just like hockey. Even though Wayne admitted it's a small chance of actually scoring in hockey, he's still not afraid of taking a shot at succeeding. This quote has really stuck by me ever since I first heard it. Whenever I feel like there's no point in even trying because it's unlikely I can succeed at it, I try to think of this quote. It quickly reminds me that I might as well just try and hope I can do it because that's better than just accepting failure. 

There are many examples of people who were willing to take a shot and became successful even though they knew there was a high chance they could’ve failed. Wayne, of course, is a clear example. He’s one of the greatest hockey players of all time and that’s because he followed his own quote and wasn’t afraid to take a shot (literally) and scoring goals even though he knew there was a very small chance of him actually succeeding. That didn’t stop him and he’s the leading scorer of all time in the NHL now. Another example can be Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He wasn’t afraid of taking big shots (also literally) in basketball games to succeed and win. He knew there was a high chance of him failing and losing games but that didn’t scare him. He still took it upon himself to take the shots that would win games for his team and even though he failed plenty of times, he still tried and tried and eventually he succeeded more times than he failed. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are also good examples. They both took a shot at succeeding by dropping out of college and even though they failed at first, they kept trying and eventually succeeded. Are you noticing the pattern now? To be great, you have to take a shot, it’s always better to try and maybe succeed than not trying and for sure failing.