Are you playing to win or playing not to lose?

Take a moment to really consider that question.

Are you playing to win or playing not to lose?

I was asked this question earlier in the month and I found it profound. In fact, I’ll go further and admit I was shocked by my response. It has stayed with me every day since.

You see, I think I’ve been playing not to lose. And I am fully aware of the implications of that.

Let me explain...

To be successful you need?(and this is not an exhaustive list, you’ll be pleased to hear, but if you’re doing all this you’d think you’d be in reasonable shape):

• A business vision.?Tick.
• Passion and purpose.?Tick and tick.
• Annual, quarterly and monthly goals.?Tick, tick, tick.
• A niche.?Yup.
• A marketing strategy and plan.?Yes and yes.
• A content strategy and plan.?Yeah.
• To be regularly measuring your effectiveness and tweaking accordingly.?OK.
• To turn up every day, be consistent and persistent.?Phew!
• To recognise your effort and successes, and reward yourself.?Again? Alright.

As a business coach you’d expect me to be showing up and practising what I preach, so what’s my problem?

You see, when you focus on the negative - playing not to lose – your unconscious doesn’t register the negative, which means I am actually focusing on losing. It’s the total opposite of the mindset I want.

This unconscious thinking could end up taking me miles from where I need to be for my business to be successful. And in a tough economic climate I don’t need my unconscious mind working against me too!

So, I blocked out 30 minutes with a cuppa to focus on the question,?am I playing to win or playing not to lose??And then,?if I’m playing to lose, what makes me think that??And?what impact is that having?

I realised I’d been too busy in the delivery of my client work, the delivery of my marketing and selling, and other working-IN-the-business-stuff and not made time recently to be strategic or to make time for my own mindset.

And then I asked myself,?what could I do to play to win instead??I came away with four clear actions, one of which was to spend more time with the fabulous folks in my business tribe. I am not an automaton and telling myself I don’t have time for this is a loser’s strategy!

What are the implications of the question, am I playing to win or playing not to lose? for you?

Read my article, commissioned by the insurers,?Simply Business:?How to stop feeling overwhelmed – tips for small business owners?here (or click on the SB logo).

My free workshop,?‘How to overcome your overwhelm and become a better business owner’?is getting great feedback...

????“I’m experiencing almost all of the side effects and doing all of those ineffective things you mention to try and deal with being overwhelmed! My friends and family don’t understand. You get this!”

????“That was an hour genuinely well spent and I have an action from your workshop I am going to do right now!”

Find out more and register for June's workshop here (or click on the cat).

Make confident decisions and take meaningful action, knowing you're spending time on the right things to achieve your ambitions without feeling overwhelmed.