If you only like yourself when you win, you’re renting your self-respect by the game.

Tying how you feel about yourself to results puts a landlord in charge of your week, and results are not reliable tenants. You start playing tight, because a loss is no longer just a loss, and playing tight makes losses more likely. The arrangement charges rent and then raises it on you.

Judge yourself on inputs for one stretch instead. Did you prepare, did you keep your head, did you help somebody out. Those are the parts you control, and they hold their value on a night when nothing goes in.