What Makes a Winner? 8 "Mindsets" to Become a Champion in Life

“Winning is not a sometime thing…it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while…you don’t do the right thing once in a while…you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit.”- Vince Lombardi

Lombardi had winning down to a science by taking the Packers to win five super bowls in seven years. The real question is how? How did this team reach that level of excellence? What separates winners from losers? I am here to give a breakdown of the thought processes used by legends to get you on the winning side. 

" I am the greatest. I said that before I knew I was."- Muhammad Ali. 

1. Self Belief

Winning starts with you. It starts with you believing that you can be a winner. Affirmations lead to results. You become what you think you are. It's that simple. So let your thoughts pave the path to winning before anything else. 

"For me, life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer."- Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. Being Hungry

Hunger is having a deep desire to accomplish your goals. It's when you'll go above and beyond to make sure you have the desired outcome. Winners are always hungry and never satisfied. 

"You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward."-Conrad Hall

3. Be a Lifelong Student 

You must know the game to beat it. Know the rules, the competition, and be strategic on what moves to make for the best chance to win the game. Approach every day like you're a young student no matter your experience level. By having this mentality, you'll open yourself up to new techniques to enhance your game. 

When you find your opponent's weak spot, hammer it.- John Heisman

4. Leverage Your Strengths Over the Opponents Weaknesses

Think about this scenario. Two individuals are getting into a fist fight. One person is over six feet tall, has hands the size of bricks, and weighs over 250 pounds. The other guy just shy of 5' 6", weighs 135 pounds soaking wet, and has a glass jaw. Now would it be in the second guys best interest to beat the first with power? Obviously not. He would use his quickness to get hits in on the opponent and win with endurance. David can beat Goliath if he exposes the weaknesses in him.

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10000kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10000 times." - Bruce Lee

5. Practice, Practice, Practice

If you want to excel at a something, you must spend countless hours refining that craft. Hard work has no substitutes, so get in practice, and in time you will see your skill level increase.

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." Steve Prefontaine 

6. Sacrifice

To gain achievements you must give up other things. This is where most people lose. They aren't willing to give up things they enjoy in the short term for things they want long term. Be willing to turn down that night out, those vacations, or anything else that doesn't correlate with what you want to achieve.

"Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."- Wilma Rudolph 

7. Resiliency

Winners know how to bounce back from any loss very quickly. Learn from a loss to know what steps need to be made to not have it happen again. But you need to instantly put no more emphasis on you losing. Let the past stay where it is and focus on the next victory. 

"Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning."- Denis Waitley 

8. Persistence

By having persistence, you'll ensure a win. Winners do not understand what no means, or surrender. They keep pushing no matter what. So give relentless effort until you see the desired result. 

This concludes my winners' blueprint. Use these mentalities, and keep on winning! 

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