The Mindset of a Winner

The Mindset of a Winner

By Mark Wager

There are people who are mentally tougher than others. Whatever the reason, they are able to overcome self doubt, and bounce back from difficulty. They are able to motivate themselves on those cold dark days when everyone else wants to stay in bed. We admire these people and we have a name for them. We call them winners.

We all recognise the importance of having strong mental skills. In fact when people fail the most common reasons we hear are " they weren't motivated enough;" "they were too emotional;" "they couldn't handle the pressure;" "they were not prepared enough;" "didn't work hard enough;" all of these reasons for failure have their basis in a person's mental toughness. There's no doubt that success is linked to mental toughness and while some of us are blessed with natural preferences to be mentally tough the vast majority have to develop those abilities in order to succeed.

In order to develop the mental toughness of a winner you have to first have to identify the specific qualities that winners possess. So here are the main things that winners do in order to develop and maintain a winners mindset.

They take responsibility of all aspects of their life
"If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

When things don't go as planned it's easy to look at who's to blame but winners only look in one direction and that's inward. Success is so valuable for winners that they don't entrust the outcome into the hands of anyone else, it's them and no one else that is responsible for their own success and them alone that accepts the blame for failure. If you take responsibility for everything that impacts you then you and only you possess the power to change your life.

They view failure as a natural part of success
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” - Thomas A. Edison

Everyone who has achieved success has at some stage failed prior. We might not like the feeling of failure but there is no greater teacher. I often hear people say that they tried everything but still failed yet winners know this is incorrect. If they tried everything they would have succeeded. Failure is not an indication to give up on a goal but merely a guide that we need to alter our path but the goal needs to remain the same.

They view criticism as positive
"People react to criticism in different ways, and my way is definitely to come out fighting." - David Beckham

You will never find a winner that has never at some stage experienced failure and with failure comes criticism. People deal with criticism in very different ways and it's easy to feel down and demoralised but winners realise that inside every criticism is a key learning that will help them succeed long term. Separate yourself from your ego when receiving criticism. In fact stop using the word criticism and only refer to it as feedback from now on.

They live in the present
"There is only one time that is important – Now! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power.” - Leo Tolstoy

The past is a place that is comfortable to exist in and the future can be exiting to imagine but the only time in your life that actually matters is the present. Winners don't care about yesterday, they enjoyed the good aspects of yesterday and learnt from the bad aspects but yesterday has no reflection on today and without the work you do today tomorrow's success won't exist. If you want to be successful focus on what you need to do in this present moment in order to take you a step closer to your goals. If it doesn't then why are you doing it?

Always be confident
"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it." - Bruce Lee

Winners always appear confident and this is the main quality that people admire in them yet the truth is that confidence is not complimentary it is manufactured. Confidence comes from internal dialogue, the result of hundreds of conversations we have with ourselves every day and if you don't like what you are saying to yourself then change the conversation. Never forget confidence is a choice. You can force yourself to act differently to how you feel because it's easier to act yourself into confidence than it is to wait around until confidence comes to you.

We admire winners for what they achieve yet they are people just like us in the majority of cases. They have access to the same resources and same opportunities the only difference lies in their attitude. They have a winning mindset that turns the question of success from if they will succeed into when they will succeed. This mindset is not exclusive to certain people its available to all of us. We just need to make the decision that we want it.

"Once you discover one simple fact: everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it. Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again." - Steve Jobs

About the Author:

Mark Wager is a world authority on Leadership psychology. Mark helps teams and individuals unlock their potential by showing them how to develop a winning mindset. Mark can be contacted via the enquiry form below.

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