Be focused on winning, be willing to lose

In the movie "The Last Samurai", when Tom Cruise's character was practising swordsmanship with a samurai, he kept making mistakes. Another samurai told him that he had "too many minds", that he was thinking too much.

Yes, when you think too much, about how to avoid losing, how to create openings for future moves, how to protect yourself, how to gain an advantage, you end up clouding your mind with thoughts that won't help you win. To win, you need to think about winning. And that means not thinking about losing.

How not to think about losing? The only way to do so is to live your life each day ready to lose. Live each day to the fullest, so that there are no regrets should you lose. For a warrior, losing means death. So if you live each day to the fullest, and have no regrets dying, then you won't let the fear of death cloud your thinking.