Traits that separate winners from losers
Winners have learnt to make commitments and keep them.
What you need to know:
- Winners have learnt to make commitments and keep them.
- Losers make promises, and break them.
- Commitment means hard work, managing your time and focusing on your priorities.
Can you be a winner?
Yes you can, because winning isn’t some sort of magical inborn gift. It’s a skill you can learn.
Because winners have learned to have winning attitudes that help them make the right decisions at the right time. And they’re passionate about what they do. Tough, committed, and confident. They see stress as a challenge, not a problem. And they control their emotions.
Winners have learnt to make commitments and keep them. Losers make promises, and break them. After all, everyone dreams of success. But winners also plan, and commit themselves to the steps that will make their dreams a reality. Regardless of what they come up against.
Commitment means hard work, managing your time and focusing on your priorities. Winners put off pleasures and work instead. Like those long distance runners who train for hours every day, every day of the week throughout their career.
Perseverance
Commitment means perseverance. Winners don’t quit. They’re like the Japanese proverb — fall seven times, stand up eight. Or Colonel Sanders. He was over 60 when he decided to franchise his Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe, and pitched his proposition to more than a thousand buyers before he signed his first contract.
Winners are optimistic, have an unshakeable belief in their abilities, and focus on solutions. Losers focus on problems. Winners see opportunities. Losers see obstacles. Winners believe they control their own destiny, and don’t get distracted from their goals. Losers believe something like fate controls their lives. Winners see anxiety as a challenge. Losers are paralysed by their fear of failure.
Imagine you’re playing pool and you’re making a critical shot. You feel a flutter of nerves, and instantly know the shot will go wild. How often have you failed at the precise moment of success?
Winners expect to win, and control their emotions. There’s a very successful technique for doing that. It’s called visualisation. Look it up. Lots of athletes use it, and it’s worth learning.
Different strategies
Winners try different strategies when they fail. Losers do the same thing again and again, somehow expecting different results. Winners never stop learning. Like the great Filipino journalist Ernie Baron said: ‘Knowledge is power. No knowledge, no power.’ Losers think they have nothing to learn.
Winners are inspiring and don’t take no for an answer. They focus on what makes them unique. They pay attention to the little things and strive for perfection. They connect with people and build solid relationships with friends who can help them achieve. Losers hang out with losers.
Both men and women have what it takes to win, though they react differently to the stress of competition. Men worry most about whether they’ll win or lose.
While women are more task-oriented, and worry less about the result and more about how they’ll perform. Men rely more on planning to overcome their fears, while women prefer to talk about them. But either way, anyone can be a winner.
And that includes you!
