The Attitude of a Champion
One thing that is clear about Champions (people who win in life) is they think differently than those who aren’t. To clarify, winning in life is not about who is the most famous, who has the most money, or who has the most awards. When I say champion or “win in life,” I mean someone who has a dream and does the hard work of knowing where they are. Determine where they want to be and what it will take to get from here to there. Then takes steps every day to make that happen. That is a champion. They think differently than almost everyone else, especially in these four ways.
The four mindsets of a champion
1. Champions Believe in their Purpose, Even when others don’t
Walt Disney had a dream. He knew his purpose and what he wanted to achieve, one of the most imaginative people in our history. My favorite story about Disney is that when the Disney world complex in florida was opened they held a press conference. By this time Walt had already died. His wife gave the speech that day. At the end, a journalist came up to her and said, it would have been great if walt could have been here to see this. She looked at him and said,
“Sir, if Walt hadn’t seen this we wouldn’t be here to do this.”
However, Walt lost his first job as an animator. He was fired because he “lacked imagination.” His boss did not believe in him, but that didn’t dissuade Disney. He didn’t need anyone else to believe. He believed, and that’s what mattered, which resulted in all the Disney magic we see today.
2. Champions Transform a negative into a positive.
An essential Skill of a champion is to turn negatives into positives. It’s as if they have an innate ability to understand that negatives are temporary, and if we respond correctly, we can make them positive. It is not natural to think that it is a choice. The question is, what choices are we making?
“Taking something from the negative column and placing it in the positive column is all about perspective. How do you see it?”
“Are People’s negative opinions: Holding you back, or launching you forward? Its your choice.”
“Your last failure Is either the seal on your defeat, or the education you need to move forward to the next level?” Your choice.
3. Champions Play to Win
There are two ways to play this game called life. You can Play not to lose, or you can play to win. You would think these two things would get you the same result, but it’s not likely. One almost always ends in victory, and one ends in defeat.
Here are some attitudes of Playing not to lose
1. Just being happy to be in the game. Being glad to get a chance is not Playing to win; it’s playing not to lose. There is no confidence in this approach. It is a feeling of false humility. This says, at best, I hope to win sometimes, but I’m happy to be a part of it.
2. Playing to maintain the status quo is not playing to win. This is a trap that people-pleasing sets for you. Just keep, don’t do more than necessary, go along to get along. This may make you feel like your life is easy and uneventful and there isn’t a lot of failure or success. This is not the presence of peace but rather the absence of purpose. You weren’t built for status quo or mideicraty. We were made for the purpose. We were born to win.
3. Playing it safe is not playing to win. All this is fear- fear of rejection, loss, or failure. Playing it safe will not cause you to win but keep you from it. Safety is the goal, and Significance is. Most significant things happen outside our comfort zone, outside the place of safety. We must face our fear.
How do we play to win?
1. Be aggressive
GO FOR IT! Decide you will win, then do everything in your power to win.
2. Be courageous
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- Playing to win takes courage. Far more courage than playing not to lose. No matter what people think or how it looks, just be brave and go for it.
3. Be a risk taker and expect it to work.
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Very few things are won without some risk. Tell yourself this: if you’re not willing to risk something, you’re also not ready to win. You can rarely have one without the other.
4. Champions Train, Losers Complain
Losing doesn’t just happen. At times, humans have the mentality that some people are born winners, and some are born losers. This is just not true. Every one of us is born with the ability to do either.
Yes, some are born into less fortunate circumstances, but whether we win or lose depends on how we respond.
“Life is 10% what happens to us, and 90% how we respond to it”
– Charles Swindall.
NO PROFIT IN COMPLAINING
Complaining and blaming others doesn’t help anything, but it makes you miserable.
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Complaining about things you are unwilling to change is a form of hypocrisy.
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Complaining is a complete waste of one’s energy; I find that those who complain the most accomplish the least.
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Spending today complaining about yesterday won’t make tomorrow any better.
