The Lighthouse for Growth

What are some key life lessons that can be drawn from the 2025 World Series?

By Garry Moïse

As a sports fan, I chose to pay close attention to this year’s World Series. Baseball is not even among my top four sports to watch. But as a Wisconsin resident, I was hooked this year because of the Milwaukee Brewers’ exciting run. Still, when there is a big event, I like to follow what happens. As a Life Cultivator, I often find plenty of life lessons in sports. So, as I reflect on what I saw in the 2025 World Series, I want to share in this post some of the key life and leadership lessons I have drawn from it.

Normally, we as humans tend to congratulate the winners and focus on what went wrong for the ones who did not win. I have always liked to do things differently, and that is what I want to do with this reflection. I certainly congratulate the Dodgers for their well-deserved victory. At the same time, I also want to acknowledge and celebrate the Blue Jays for fighting so valiantly against the defending champions.

The 2025 World Series was more than a championship. It was a story of resilience, leadership, and the human spirit. The Los Angeles Dodgers fought their way to victory, while the Toronto Blue Jays came very, very close in a heart-stopping Game 7 that went into extra innings.

Both teams displayed extraordinary determination. One lifted the trophy. The other walked off the field with heavy hearts. Yet, both gave us valuable lessons on growth, leadership, and the courage to move forward after triumph or heartbreak.

Here are seven key lessons that go beyond baseball that I propose to you. My aim is for them to be lessons that can speak to anyone pursuing excellence in life, work, and leadership.

When faced with a close loss or a missed opportunity, how do you prepare your mind and heart to rise again?

1. Effort Does Not Always Guarantee the Outcome—But It Builds Character
   The Blue Jays played with heart until the very last pitch. They did almost everything right, yet the outcome slipped away. This reminds us that hard work is not always rewarded immediately. But every ounce of effort strengthens character, builds credibility, and shapes leaders who can stand tall even when things do not go their way.
2. Champions Prepare for the Moments They Cannot Predict
   The Dodgers’ victory was not luck. It was the result of preparation meeting opportunity. They trained for unpredictable moments. There was so much: the score changes, the tension of extra innings, the pressure of a hostile crowd, the fatigue of a long season. True leaders do the same. They prepare their minds, habits, and teams for moments that cannot be scripted.
3. Emotional Control Defines Leadership in High-Pressure Moments
   In the final innings, every swing, every call, and every pause mattered. Both teams faced moments when emotions could have taken over. Yet they stayed composed. Great leadership is often measured by how one responds when the pressure mounts. Calm minds create clear decisions.
4. Losses Can Refine You More Than Wins
   While the Dodgers will celebrate for years, the Blue Jays may gain something equally valuable—a deeper understanding of resilience. Loss, when accepted with humility, becomes a mirror that reveals where growth is still possible. Some of the world’s most influential leaders and thinkers were shaped more by defeat than by success.
5. Unity Is Strength – Even When the Outcome Hurts
   After the final out, the Blue Jays huddled together, showing respect to their opponents and gratitude to their fans. That simple act of unity spoke volumes. Leadership is not about standing alone at the top. It is about standing together in both victory and defeat, honoring relationships and shared purpose.
6. Every Ending Holds the Seed of a New Beginning
   For the Dodgers, the season’s end is a celebration. For the Blue Jays, it should be a new starting point. Great leaders know how to turn undesirable endings into better new beginnings. They ask, “What did we learn? How do we rebuild stronger?” Growth begins not when we win, but when we decide to rise again.
7. True Greatness Is Found in the Way We Rise
   The Blue Jays’ story reminds us that greatness is not only in winning but in how we rise after losing. Whether in business, education, social endeavors, faith-based works, sports, or life, the way we respond to close defeats defines our character. The Dodgers won the title, but the Blue Jays won respect. Both victories matter.

Concluding Thoughts

At The Lighthouse for Growth, we believe growth is not a destination. It is a journey. The 2025 World Series gave us more than a memorable game 7. It offered a reflection of life itself: hard work, uncertainty, joy, disappointment, resilience, faith, hope, pressures, confidence, and renewal. It also offers us a rich metaphor: the fight, the near-victory, the comeback, the hard lessons, the fresh start.

For leaders and learners around the world, it is a reminder that growth is not linear. It involves both the climb and the fall, the cheers, and also the silence after the crowd leaves. What matters most is your own will to show up again, stand again, learn again, and play again.

Therefore, whether you are leading an organisation, a business, mentoring young adults, teaching, coaching, taking care of patients, providing services to others, or navigating your own growth journey, these lessons hold value.

Reflection Question:
When faced with a close loss or a missed opportunity, how do you prepare your mind and heart to rise again?

---

Credit for featured image: Neil Paine