This is Jim Thorpe. Look closely at the photo, you can see that he’s wearing different socks and shoes. This wasn’t a fashion statement. It was the 1912 Olympics, and Jim, an American Indian from Oklahoma represented the U.S. in track and field. On the morning of his competitions, his shoes were stolen…

Thorpe began the Olympics by crushing the field in the now-defunct pentathlon, which consisted of five events in a single day. He placed first in four of them, dusting his competition in the 1,500-meter run by almost five seconds.

A week later the three-day decathlon competition began in a pouring rain. Thorpe opened the event by splashing down the track in the 100-meter dash in 11.2 seconds — a time not equaled at the Olympics until 1948.

On the second day, Thorpe won the high jump. Later that afternoon came one of his favorite events, the 110-meter hurdles. Thorpe blistered the track in 15.6 seconds, again quicker than Bob Mathias would run it in 1948.

On the final day of competition, Thorpe placed third and fourth in the events in which he was most inexperienced, the pole vault and javelin. Then came the very last event, the 1,500-meter run. The metric mile was a leg-burning monster that came after nine other events over two days.

Thorpe’s shoes went missing a few minutes before the start of the 1500-meter race portion of the decathlon. There are several theories about why they were missing or who took them or what happened, but the fact is that he had a matter of minutes to get to the starting line. He frantically asked teammates if they had an extra pair of shoes. One teammate had an extra shoe. It was too small but he squeezed his foot into it. And the other shoe he found in a trash bin. It was too big and he put a couple pair of socks to make that fit. Then he went out and competed against the greatest decathletes in the world and won the 1500 meter race.

While Jim Thorpe is considered by some to be one of the greatest American Olympic athletes of all time, his records (and medals) are not officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Thorpe was discovered to have played semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, violating the IOC’s code of strict amateurism, and he was therefore subsequently stripped of his medals.

The IOC’s decision in 1912 to strip Thorpe’s medals and strike out his records was not just intended to punish him for violating the elitist Victorian codes of amateurism. It was also intended to obscure him — and to a certain extent it succeeded …

Thorpe at last received Olympic justice in October of 1982 when the IOC bowed to years of public pressure and delivered two replica medals to his family, announcing, “The name of James Thorpe will be added to the list of athletes who were crowned Olympic champions at the 1912 Games.” What’s less commonly known is that the IOC appended this small, mean sentence: “However, the official report for these Games will not be modified.”

The Jim Thorpe story is a perfect reminder that you don’t have to resign to the excuses that have held you back. So what if life hasn’t been fair? What are you going to do about it today? Whatever you woke up with this morning; stolen shoes, bad home life, failed relationships, don’t let it stop you from running your race. You can experience more in life if you’ll get over the excuses and choose to lead. You can choose excuses or you can choose to lead… but you can’t have both.

Hours of HGTV, repurposing old furniture for his Etsy shop and an affinity towards Architectural Digest are not the things you would think a former NFL player would be into. But it’s true of Joshua Symonette. Besides being a little domestic and artsy, this former Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins NFL football player is a serious leadership development junkie. Joshua flexes that passion for leadership on a variety of platforms, including a leadership development coach. Joshua talks very candidly about the trappings of professional sports and how humility — choosing first to go last — is such an important anchor for any leader worth following, and how we as parents, youth leaders and mentors can help the next generation become a leader worth following.

INFLUNSR defines humility as choosing first to go last.

Read 1 Peter 5:5-6 NLT:

And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

Let’s just say a friend wins an athletic event or academic award and are pleased and proud of the results. They invite you out to celebrate. As they proudly retell the story, do you feel an impulse to tell them how they could have done it better? Do you “explain” things to them, signaling that you know more about these things than they do? Do you discourse on how you did it better? Does it turn into a bragging contest, with two people trying to score points on each other? Or do you support them in their moment of triumph, satisfaction, and self-congratulation?

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Do you offer unsolicited advice to others about how to live their lives better?
• Do you “fake faint praise” when somebody shares their new idea or new discovery about life?
• If someone tells a joke, do you feel compelled to top it with a better one? Or, do you hold back on laughing, so the joke falls flat?
• Do you always have a better story, a better example, a better suggestion, or a better solution?
• Do you feel compelled to demonstrate your smart you are, or how much you know?
• Are you a back seat driver?
• Do you lecture or preach to others?
• When someone says something that’s mistaken or misinformed, how do you react?
• If you have a different opinion, do you precipitate a win-lose debate, or do you show respect for the other person’s view as you’re sharing your own?

Humility is less a matter of self-restraint and more a matter of self-esteem. The greater your sense of self-worth, the easier it is to appreciate others, to praise them, to encourage them… to choose first to go last.