Back then, before the BCS and the college playoff system; a Big Ten championship was a huge deal. It punched your ticket to the granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl. So to see one of these rings in person was to know that year’s Michigan team had gone to the Rose Bowl. Still, we were all kids, we didn’t really know what Big Jon meant when he said “the next one,” we just thought it was kind of funny. It sounded like he was bragging, like it was a foregone conclusion that we’d win another Big Ten title.
Over the years though, after earning a few rings of my own, I developed a deeper understanding of that phrase and its power to motivate.
Motivation can be hard to muster up after you’ve achieved a big goal. Winning a Super Bowl. Getting your dream job. Watching your kids graduate. Each of these accomplishments can feel like a finish line, where you find yourself a little bit lost or adrift, wondering what to do.
This happens to a lot of people.
For a long time in our culture, we were sold this idea growing up that if we just got that one thing—the championship, the promotion, the car, the girl—we would be happy. Life would be perfect. Except then you get that thing, and you quickly realize the sun will come up tomorrow, and life will go on like normal.
I remember, for instance, driving home from the airport after returning from one of our first Super Bowls, and finding a pipe burst in my new house and the entire lower level flooded. I was a Super Bowl champion…but in that moment I was just a homeowner in desperate need of a good plumber. That’s how life really works. The day after your dreams come true, the dog still needs to go to the vet. Laundry still needs to be folded. Kids’ lunches need to get made and bills need to be paid.
And that’s okay. Those things—which you do with, and for, other people—are all part of the journey that makes up a full life. Which is right where “the next one” comes in.
“The next one” represents a kind of growth mindset geared toward learning, ambition, and process over outcomes. It’s a reminder that the work of creating a great career or a fulfilling life doesn’t stop with one dream or one goal, and it doesn’t happen alone. No matter which path you’re on, “the next one” offers built-in motivation to help you identify new challenges at every step.
Finding new challenges to overcome and bigger mountains to climb is something I believe we all need to be able to do because it keeps our competitive juices flowing. And like it or not, competition is a big part of life. Competition for resources and respect, for attention and affection, you name it. “The next one” is a call to compete. A call I think we each need to answer whenever we get the chance, because if you don’t continue to compete, even after great success, you might never know what you’re truly capable of.
Of course, a focus on “the next one” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t celebrate this one. It’s human nature to take a victory lap. Your ego needs to be nourished a little bit. The pat on the back. The congratulatory phone calls. The ceremonies and ovations. These are nice things. Nobody hates being told they’re the best. And everyone should take the time to feel all the emotions that come with successfully completing a mission–like the joy and gratification of a hard job that’s been done well.
But you have to be vigilant. It’s one thing to be lost or adrift after a big win, it’s another to bask in the glow of victory for so long you find yourself living in the past.
The people, the companies, the teams who reach their fullest potential know how to keep their victory laps short and live in the present. They are the first ones to put their rings in a box and move onto the next competition, the next season, the next mission as quickly as possible. They know this is what gives them the best chance to succeed, especially against competition that might be hungrier than they are.
Delta, for example, was just named America’s best airline for the third year in a row by Forbes Travel Guide. They are in fierce competition everyday with United, American, and Southwest, just to name a few. Delta didn’t three-peat in an industry as ruthlessly competitive as commercial air travel by resting on their laurels or patting themselves on the back for a job well done in 2024 or 2025. Ed Bastian and his team know they have to keep their eyes on the ball at all times. They know, just like any great team knows, that you can’t take last year’s success with you into this year. You can take the lessons you learned, and the people you learned them with, but that’s it. From there, it’s simple math: the more minutes you can commit to the work in front of you, the greater your chances for continued success will be.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treasure the rings or the trophies you’ve earned for the work that’s behind you. They have incredible value as physical reminders of important chapters in your life. Whenever I looked up at the banners in Gillette Stadium, or I look at my rings today, it’s like a shortcut right back to those chapters; back to all the experiences and relationships and memories that made those winning seasons so meaningful. But if I want to write a new chapter–the next one–all that work is in front of me, not behind me. And I embrace that work because the work is the chapter.
“The next one” gives you something to aim at, but the relationships you develop and the experiences you have along the way are what really define the level of success and fulfillment you feel once you cross that finish line. Because it’s not the destination that matters most, it’s how you get there. It’s the journey and the company. It’s the process, not the outcome.
And the sooner we all get to work on our next chapters, the sooner we each get to start writing even richer, fuller stories for all of us.
