"You can't go on winning all the time"

A reminder from someone who once seemed to defy it: Jahangir Khan, the squash legend who amassed a near-mythic unbeaten run, insists that even the greatest careers are bounded by time, chance, and change. The line resists the fantasy of invincibility. Skill, preparation, and willpower can stretch a streak beyond ordinary limits, but they cannot abolish uncertainty or halt the body’s clock. Opponents adapt, motivation ebbs and flows, injuries intrude, and life reorders priorities. Accepting that reality is not defeatism; it is the foundation of sustainable excellence.

Loss, then, becomes part of the craft. It educates more honestly than victory, exposing blind spots and inviting reinvention. Complacency hides in long success; a setback flushes it out. Champions who keep evolving treat each stumble as usable data, not a verdict on their identity. That stance requires humility, a recognition that mastery is iterative, not final.

There is also a psychological liberation here. The demand to be flawless can turn winning into a cage, making athletes conservative and fearful. When the possibility of losing is embraced, risk-taking returns, creativity flows, and joy reenters competition. The scoreboard ceases to be the sole arbiter of meaning; process, courage, and improvement reclaim their place.

Beyond sport, careers stall, markets shift, relationships strain. The lesson scales: progress is cyclical, not linear. Resilience comes from preparing for the valley as deliberately as for the summit, building routines for reflection, assembling support, and protecting values so that identity survives outcomes. Respect for opponents and gratitude for the contest deepen when triumph is understood as temporary.

Khan’s message reframes legacy. Dominance is impressive; dignity in transition is inspiring. The measure of a champion is not an unbroken line of wins but the capacity to respond when that line is broken, to learn, adapt, and continue with purpose. By acknowledging limits, we paradoxically extend our peak and expand our humanity.