The Winner's Mindset

“You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.” Zig Ziglar.

You are competitive, and that’s a great thing! Winning is incredibly inspirational and can propel you perform even better and achieve even greater heights.

I believe that a strong competitive spirit coupled with rational realism can go a long way in creating winners. Here, I am talking about consistent achievers who have a winner’s mindset.

A few thoughts on the winner's mindset….

Winners are passionate about winning
Winners thrive on the blood-rush of a tumultuous environment. The pulls and pressures of competition motivate them to gear-up for a good fight; they focus on the goal and become sharper and more creative in their strategies

Winners assess the playing field correctly
Winners appreciate competition. They assess the competitor’s strengths and try to better them. They assess his weaknesses, and devise strategies to exploit them. More importantly, they know their own strengths and weaknesses. If you want to be a winner, never under-estimate a competitor, remember he is also assessing you and devising ways of beating you….…hence keep your information, knowledge and skills up to date.

Winners are perseverant
The quote "Winners never quit and quitters never win" says a lot about the tenacious 'winner's mindset'. Winners have conviction in themselves, and if they believe in the mission, they are willing to persevere on, even when the going gets tough.

Winners are pragmatic
Winners can assess when a battle cannot be won, and chose to make a retreat. The purpose of such a strategic retreat is simple: you want to live to fight another day. Winners believe in ‘winning the war’, and hence are willing to take a few ‘battles lost’ in their stride.

Here are some classic quotes on winners versus losers.

• A winner sees an answer for every problem. A loser sees a problem in every answer.
• A winner says, "It may be difficult, but it’s possible." A loser says, "It may be possible, but it’s too difficult."
• When a winner makes a mistake, he says, "I was wrong." When a loser makes a mistake, he says, "It wasn’t my fault."
• A winner says, "I can do more." A loser says, "That’s not my job."

These quotes may sound clichéd, but I believe they ring true, and have come to strongly subscribe to them over a period of time.

© Sujata Khanna. All rights reserved.