Winning is an Attitude not a Score: Two Powerful Steps
Being a winner is a state of mind. Success and winning is indeed a state of mind. Winning is a habit that can be cultivated through purposeful training and coaching, and positive imaging. It is like a farmer does with his crops. Certainly, obstacles will arise. The farmer faces hazardous weather, insects, and market deviations. However, the successful farmer is persistent day in and day out, seeing a bountiful crop while working smart to nourish the result. Winners take the same approach whatever the job is, whoever the competition is, and no matter the market conditions.
How Do You Cultivate a Winning Attitude?
First, winners go within. What matters most is the attitude and actions taken day to day. Winners imagine the best, not the worst. They think about what they want, not what they do not want. Winners pre-play positive results and do not replay negative situations. Winners create the futures they imagine and do not lament the past mistakes or lost opportunities. This type of mental rehearsal is the master skill of the best in any field. Then they act purposely and persistently to achieve perfection. It takes work. Sure there are bad days, but winners do not quit-ever.
Dick Fosbury, inventor of the Fosbury Flop, used hard training and imaging to set a world record in the high jump, 7’3”. He also won the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics. He set the standard for future generations. He’d rock back and forth a few times at the starting line to stimulate his run and jump. He visualized the best. Then, he would take off, run and high jump backwards over the bar. He was a world champion – a winner!
Next, all champions train excessively, and are helped by great coaches. Jean Claude Killy won three Olympic gold medals using this approach. Great performers in any profession are students of their game. They work hard and enlist the support of others. Why? Because it helps them refocus on their best form, not on the mistakes.
Some of the most exceptional examples of successful training and positive attitudes are the astronauts. Nobody knew what the Apollo moon expeditions would really be like, except maybe science fiction writers Jules Verne or Ray Bradbury. However, the astronauts performed their projected tasks with precision. Thousands of hours of review and practice in the desert and ocean made them winners. They perfected the result with NASA simulations. Neil Armstrong said of the moon expedition, “It was beautiful, just like drill.” Captain Conrad concurred, “It feels like I’ve been there many times before.”
How Do These Steps for Winning Apply to You?
Do you face obstacles? Sure! But so did the POW’s in Vietnam. Many spent three to seven years behind bars deprived of most intellectual activity or physical comforts. To combat boredom and loneliness, they took self-development courses in their minds. Some learned to play the guitar and piano without even touching the instrument. They played “make believe” instruments made of sticks. Col. George Hall maintained his golf skills by playing 18 holes of golf in his mind every day. Winning requires working through problems regardless of the disappointment, with an intense desire to excel. With ingenuity, creativity and innovation winners find a way to persevere and succeed. It is not always pretty, but they move forward.
Do you want to be a winner and achieve the success you desire in your career? Start imagining superior results, happy customers, and a turned-on team. Keep learning and seek ways to improve. Do not give up. Remember these words by Thomas Jefferson, “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”
TO ACCELERATE YOUR CAREER? READ THESE BOOKS:
FOR EMPLOYEES: THE EXTRAORDINARY EMPLOYEE: A ROADMAP FOR SUCCESS
FOR MANAGERS: UNPARALLELED LEADERSHIP: HOW TO ACHIEVE EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS AND RESULTS AS A MANAGER
