Wayne Gretzky didn't wake up one morning and decide to write a hallmark card. Honestly, the most famous quote in sports history—you miss 100% of the shots you don't take—started as a bit of a defensive retort. It was January 1983. Bob McKenzie, who was the editor of The Hockey News at the time, was grilling "The Great One" about his shooting volume. Gretzky was on a tear, on pace for over 400 shots on goal. People were actually criticizing him for being too aggressive, which sounds insane now, but that was the vibe.
Gretzky fired back: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
But there’s a second half to that quote nobody ever puts on the posters. He followed it up by saying, "Even though there is only a 1-5% probability of scoring." That’s the real kicker. It wasn’t just about blind optimism; it was about the cold, hard math of being a professional goal scorer. He knew most of his attempts were going to fail. He just didn't care.
The 1983 Origin Story of the Shot Quote
We’ve seen it on LinkedIn banners and gym walls, and yeah, we’ve seen Michael Scott "quote" it on a whiteboard in The Office. But in the early '80s, Gretzky was facing a weird kind of pressure. He was a pass-first player by nature. His dad, Walter, and his coaches, Glen Sather and John Muckler, were constantly barking at him to be more "selfish." They wanted him to shoot.
Gretzky explained in a later interview that the line basically just "rolled out of his mouth" because he was tired of hearing the same advice for ten years.
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He had this incredible internal logic. If he didn't shoot, the chance of a goal was zero. If he did shoot—even from a bad angle or with a defender in his face—the chance was at least 1%. In a game of inches, that 1% is everything. By the time he retired, he had 894 career goals. He took 5,088 shots to get there. That’s a lot of "misses" that people conveniently forget when they look at the record books.
Why "You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don't Take" Still Works
Most people treat this like a permission slip to fail. But for Wayne, it was a tactical necessity. He wasn't the biggest guy on the ice. He wasn't the fastest. He certainly didn't have the hardest slap shot. He was, however, the master of "shooting for accuracy" and volume.
The Psychology of the Extra Attempt
There’s this thing in sports psychology called "result-oriented thinking." Most players get in their own heads. They think, If I miss this, I look like an idiot. Gretzky’s mindset flipped that. He viewed the absence of a shot as the only true failure.
Think about it this way:
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- 0 Shots = 0% Success Rate.
- 10 Shots at a 5% Success Rate = 0.5 Goals. In hockey, half a goal (statistically) is the difference between an MVP season and just being another guy on the roster. He understood that the math of "taking the shot" was always superior to the safety of holding the puck.
The Michael Scott Effect
We have to talk about the meme. In "The Michael Scott Paper Company" episode of The Office, Steve Carell’s character writes the quote on a whiteboard and attributes it like this:
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. — Wayne Gretzky" — Michael Scott
It’s hilarious because it captures the exact opposite of what Gretzky intended. Michael Scott is looking for a shortcut to wisdom. Gretzky was describing the grueling reality of 20 years of professional ice hockey. But surprisingly, the meme kept the quote alive for a whole new generation. It turned a gritty hockey insight into a piece of universal pop culture.
How the Great One’s Logic Applies to 2026
We live in a world that’s obsessed with "optimization." Everyone wants the perfect strategy before they launch a business, ask someone out, or try a new hobby. We wait for the 90% probability.
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Gretzky’s 1983 interview tells us that waiting for the 90% is a losing game. You take the 1% shot. You take it because the act of taking the shot teaches you how to aim better for the next one. As content creator James III once noted, the more shots you take, the better at shooting you actually become. The skill doesn't come before the attempt; the skill is a result of the attempts.
Actionable Takeaways from the Gretzky Mindset
If you want to actually use this instead of just reading it, you’ve gotta change how you view "missing."
- Audit your "Non-Shots": Look at your last month. Where did you stay quiet in a meeting? Where did you skip applying for a role because you weren't "100% qualified"? Those are your 0% zones.
- Accept the 1-5% Probability: Stop looking for "sure things." If an opportunity has a low chance of success but a high reward, the Gretzky math says you shoot every single time.
- Ignore the "Selfish" Label: Gretzky was called selfish for shooting more. He ended up with more assists than any other player has total points. Taking your shot often creates rebounds and opportunities for the rest of your "team," whether that's your family or your coworkers.
The real legacy of you miss 100% of the shots you don't take isn't about being a superstar. It’s about being willing to look a little foolish for a 1% chance at greatness. Wayne Gretzky proved that if you do that enough times, you eventually become "The Great One."
To start applying this today, identify one "low-probability" goal you've been avoiding and commit to making your first attempt within the next 24 hours. Don't worry about the result; just focus on the fact that you're no longer at 0%.