9. Winners Forget How to Give Up
Some questions to think about:
- What makes a winner?
- Why do some people give up, and others persist?
- What key habits can you cultivate in order to achieve success?
1. What makes a winner?
For some people, winning is more to do with being in a competetive environment, and gaining recognition from others when they achieve a desired outcome. Others seek the satisfaction that comes from achieving a significant goal that they have set themselves, not being so concerned about external validation.
These are just two broad categories of winners. But what character traits do we find common to the above?
Firstly, winners have focus . They know where they are going, and what they want to achieve. Winners set goals, and exhibit discipline and determination in pursuit of the fulfillment of their vision. They understand that there will be inevitable challenges en route to their destination, but they don’t allow setbacks to de-rail them from what they set out to accomplish.
Secondly, winners understand how important it is to de-clutter their minds and lives from distractions, and unproductive activity. In order to be successful, they realize that they will need to give up certain things to create the space and time required to maximize the chance of success.
Lastly, winning requires energy, as well as space and time, and winners know that they will need to manage their mental and physical environments to hone their minds and bodies for maximum energy output.
Additionally, winning involves an awareness of the natural ebb and flow of energy during the day. Most winners set aside specific, regular times of the day when they focus heavily on working on major milestones, working on less demanding tasks at other times.
Why do some people give up, and others persist?
So why do some people give up, where others in similar cicumstances keep going? There are obviously many reasons, and although there is no formula to give us the answer, there are certain traits we can see in people who persist vs people who give up.
One of the most important factors is that people who persist have a very specific, driving push that makes it paramount that they should succeed, or win.
The obvious example is a lack of finances: an impending financial crisis focuses a person’s atttention and time, so that people will go to extraordinary lengths to reverse the downward trend of cashflow. Personal health is another example.
These negative pushes aren’t something that we face all the time however, so what other factors mean the difference between persistence and giving up?
As I mentioned above: having a specific driving push. An example is a friend of mine who wants to set up a retreat center for recovering drug addicts.
He has drawn up the plans, he has produced a detailed budget, and he has set a timeline for important milestones along the way. This systematic approach means that he can monitor his progress, and aim for small steps en route to his final destination.
He knows what it will take, in terms of time, energy and finances, and he is ready to pursue his vision until it’s complete. Until he has won.
Contrast this with someone who sets out to earn an extra income, perhaps through selling some products online. Perhaps they were attracted to the prospect by some effective marketing, which whet their appetite to try out the process.
But they don’t know the full extent of what’s required to win. They don’t understand how much time and energy is involved, or the finances, or the structures and skill-sets that need to be developed to maximise the chances of success.
At the first major setback, they are very likely to give up, and in fact, in the case of most businesses, they do.
Enthusiasm or desire alone do not in themselves make for winning.
What habits are required then, to win, so that winning becomes almost an inevitability, and the prospect of losing evaporates?
3. What key habits can you cultivate in order to achieve success?
Here is a non-exhaustive list of my top tips for winning:
- Vision: develop and cultivate a focused and clear vision of what you want to achieve
- Plan: be specific about what you want to get done and by when. Be aware of your natural ebb and flow of your daily mental and physical energy, and work with it realistically
- Develop skills: Make sure you set aside time to gain the new skills required to succeed
- Mastermind: regularly consult with others for ideas, problem-solving, and creative solutions to roadblocks
- Celebrate & Encourage: when you achieve important milestones along the route, reward yourself and celebrate with others. These provide you with emotional resilience to cope with the the setbacks and hard times that will otherwise grind you down
These are my top 5: if you have others, please do contribute below!
Dez.
