You've probably seen the clip. It’s grainy, mid-90s footage of Les Brown, sweat pouring down his face, his voice cracking with a kind of raw intensity you just don’t hear in modern corporate HR seminars. He screams it: it's not over until i win. It’s become a bit of a meme now. People put it over gym edits of guys dropping heavy deadlifts or crypto traders staring at a red screen. But honestly, most people treat it like a cheap hit of dopamine rather than a functional strategy for living a life that isn't mediocre.
It's a grit-based philosophy.
Failure is weirdly popular lately. Everyone wants to "fail fast" or "embrace the suck." That's fine, but there’s a massive difference between accepting a setback and accepting a permanent loss. When you adopt the stance that things simply aren’t finished until the outcome swings in your favor, your brain starts wired-in problem solving instead of looking for the nearest exit ramp. It's about refusal.
The Psychology of Radical Persistence
Why does this specific phrase hit so hard? It’s because of something called the Zeigarnik Effect. In psychology, this is the tendency to remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed ones. When you tell yourself it's not over until i win, you are intentionally keeping a "loop" open in your subconscious. Your brain hates open loops. It wants closure. If you decide the story is over because you got fired or dumped or went bankrupt, the loop closes on a loss. Your identity takes the hit.
But if you view that loss as a mid-chapter plot point? The loop stays open. You stay hungry.
I think back to researchers like Angela Duckworth, who literally wrote the book on Grit. She found that talent is a pretty lousy predictor of long-term success. Instead, it’s that "perseverance and passion for long-term goals." It’s the ability to keep your head down when the "novelty" of a project wears off and it just starts to feel like a grind. That’s where the winning happens. It’s in the boring middle.
Les Brown and the Georgia Roots
We have to talk about where this actually came from. Les Brown wasn't some Ivy League success story. He was born on the floor of an abandoned building in Liberty City, Miami. He was labeled "educable mentally retarded" (EMR) in grade school. Think about that. The world told him, officially and on paper, that he was a loser before he even hit puberty.
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His entire career as a motivational speaker was an act of defiance. He didn't just stumble into a microphone; he obsessed over it. He used to practice his "DJ voice" in the mirror because he wanted to be on the radio. He’d go down to the local station every day, even when they told him they didn't have a job for him. He sat there. He waited. He made himself "useful" until they couldn't ignore him anymore. That is the literal embodiment of the mindset. It’s the refusal to accept the current reality as the final reality.
Dealing With the "Delusional" Label
People will call you crazy. They really will.
If you keep pushing for a goal that seems statistically unlikely, your friends and family might try to "stage an intervention." They call it being realistic. But "realistic" is often just a collective agreement to settle for less. Honestly, if Steve Jobs had been realistic, we’d still be using styluses on plastic screens. If J.K. Rowling had been realistic after the 12th publisher rejected Harry Potter, she’d still be a struggling single mother on welfare.
The mantra it's not over until i win requires a certain level of strategic delusion. You have to believe in a version of the future that doesn't exist yet.
- The internal dialogue: "This sucks, but it's temporary."
- The external reality: Your bank account is at zero.
- The bridge: The work you do between those two points.
It’s not just about "vibes" or "manifesting." That stuff is mostly nonsense if it isn't backed by a staggering amount of effort. It’s about iterative learning. If you try to win, fail, and then try the exact same thing again, you aren't persistent—you're just stubborn. The "win" happens when you take the data from the "not over" part and pivot.
When Resilience Meets Reality
There’s a dark side to this, too. You can’t just scream at a brick wall and expect it to turn into a door. Nuance matters.
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Sometimes "winning" means changing the goalpost. Maybe your original business idea was a total dud. Persistence doesn't mean sinking your life savings into a failing DVD rental shop in 2026. It means the entrepreneurial journey isn't over. You take the skills you learned—marketing, logistics, customer service—and you apply them to the next thing. The "win" is the ultimate success of your life's work, not necessarily every single battle along the way.
Look at the sports world. We love the "comeback" narrative. We talk about the 2016 Cavaliers or the 2004 Red Sox. Why? Because they were "dead." They were in a hole so deep that the "win" seemed impossible. But they operated under the assumption that time hadn't run out.
The Biological Cost of the Win
Your body feels this. When you're in a "losing" state, your cortisol levels are spiked. You're in fight-or-flight. Sustaining the it's not over until i win mentality for years is physically taxing. This is why burnout is real. To actually win, you have to manage your biology. You need sleep. You need sunlight. You need a social circle that doesn't drain your battery. You can't win if you've had a nervous breakdown by age 30.
Tactical Ways to Apply This Right Now
So, how do you actually do this? How do you move past the slogan?
First, you have to audit your "finish lines." Most people quit right at the "Dip"—that period of time between starting a new skill and actually becoming good at it. Seth Godin wrote a whole book about this. The Dip is where the world weeds out the people who don't actually want it. If you're in the Dip, congrats. That's where the win is forged.
- Redefine the Setback: Stop using the word "failure." Use "data point." If a marketing campaign fails, you didn't lose; you just learned what your audience doesn't like.
- The 24-Hour Rule: If you take a massive hit, you get 24 hours to mope. Cry, scream, eat pizza, whatever. But when the sun comes up the next day, you’re back in the game. The "it's not over" part starts at hour 25.
- Vary Your Input: If you’re stuck, you probably have a blind spot. Read something outside your industry. Talk to someone who disagrees with you. New information is the fuel for the win.
The Long Game of the Mindset
It’s easy to be motivated when things are going well. Anyone can have a "winning mindset" when the checks are clearing and the relationship is easy. The real test of it's not over until i win is when you’re tired. When you’re lonely. When it’s been three years and you haven't seen the results you wanted.
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Most people don't realize that "winning" is often just a result of being the last person standing. It’s an endurance sport.
I remember reading about the "Stockdale Paradox," named after Admiral James Stockdale, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He noted that the optimists—the ones who thought they’d be out by Christmas—were the ones who died of a broken heart. The survivors were the ones who accepted the brutal reality of their current situation but never lost faith that they would prevail in the end. That is the core of this. It’s not blind optimism. It’s the cold, hard realization that you will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes.
Actionable Steps for the Persistent
If you’re currently feeling like you’re losing, here is your path forward. This isn't just theory; it's a protocol.
- Audit your language. Stop saying "I can't." Start saying "I haven't figured out how to yet." It sounds cheesy, but it fundamentally shifts your neuroplasticity toward problem-solving.
- Identify the "Win." What does the win actually look like? Be hyper-specific. You can't hit a target you haven't drawn. If you just want "success," you'll never find it. If you want a specific revenue goal or a specific title, you can build a map to it.
- Find your "Les Brown." Not literally him, but find a mentor or a community that refuses to let you wallow. You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. If those five people are "realistic" and "safe," your "win" will stay small.
- Move the needle 1% daily. Big wins are just an accumulation of tiny, boring, invisible gains. Write one page. Make one call. Do one extra set.
The phrase it's not over until i win isn't a destination. It’s a way of moving through the world. It’s a refusal to let external circumstances dictate your internal worth. You decide when the story ends. And if you haven't reached the podium yet, then keep the book open. There are more chapters to write.
To move forward, stop looking for a sign that it’s time to quit. There won't be one. Instead, look at your current obstacles as the necessary resistance required to build the strength for the final act. Reassess your current strategy, identify where you’ve been stubborn instead of persistent, and adjust your tactics while keeping your eyes locked on the ultimate objective. Success is rarely a straight line; it's a series of messy, jagged corrections that eventually trend upward if you refuse to stop moving.