At half-time, I thought, if Atlanta can score 21 points in the first half, New England can do the same in the second half, and win. That’s the way The Pats have to look at it. There’s a lot of game left.

Yeah, I’m so smart I turned off the game early in the fourth quarter and missed the comeback of the century.

I thought it was over. No time left. Too big a deficit. But it wasn’t over. Because it wasn’t over until it was over.

So, is that it? Is the lesson to never give up, no matter what? Keep fighting no matter how bad things look?

Yes.

The game isn’t over, the election isn’t over, the trial isn’t over until its over (and you’ve exhausted all appeals).

Never give up. Never give in.

Now, it’s easy to give up when nobody is watching. All those projects you’ve started but never completed, all those goals that were quietly swept under the rug. When you’re the only one who knows, giving up is no big deal.

So if you want to win, make sure lots of people know.

There are those who say we should never share our goals or plans with others, that we should keep them to ourselves. Telling others, they say, puts too much pressure on you to perform and causes you to mess up.

But it is precisely that kind of pressure that leads to great victories.

When hundreds of millions of people are watching you, cheering you, counting on you, that’s when you do the impossible.

Go public with your plans. Share your goals. Be accountable. Take the chance that you will mess up. Because in this way, you will summon all that you have and accomplish things you might otherwise never accomplish.

There’s a related lesson, one that Atlanta missed, and that is assuming you’ve won before you’ve won. The Falcons took the win for granted and blew it. As Lost in Space’s Dr. Smith would put it, “Oh the pain”.

Never give up, and never celebrate before all the beans are counted. Because it ain’t over ’til it’s over.

What’s your goal? How many referrals are you going to get this month?

Relax. You don’t need to know everything. You’ve got some goals, or you know the general direction you want things to go, and that’s enough.

You don’t need a detailed plan. You’ll figure things out as you go along.

I say this from the perspective of someone who usually wants to know everything. Over the years, I’ve had to fight my need to know because, frankly, it has held me back.

Many of my biggest accomplishments began on a lark. They weren’t well-planned or even given much thought.  Something sounded good and I went for it.

Sometimes they worked out, sometimes they didn’t, but the net result was that a lot of good things happened for me that I’m sure would otherwise have never seen the light of day.

Do yourself a favor. Take a look at your project list or your someday/maybe list, or reach into your subconscious and choose something you’ve thought you’d like to do but have continually put on the back burner.

Choose something that excites you. Something that would make you leap with joy if you could actually do it. Something that has seemed impossible or the timing hasn’t been right or something you’re not sure you are capable of doing.

Don’t spend a lot of time on this. If you’re not sure, choose something that scares you.

When you’ve got it, push aside your doubts and questions and start doing it.

You don’t need to know what’s next, just take the first step.

You may not succeed. You may give up before the day is done. You may realize that you really don’t want it. But if you don’t start, you’ll never know.

If you do start, you might continue. And accomplish something that completely changes your life.

Referrals rock. Here’s how to get more