Success Is

Posted August 2, 2012

… Having a winning mindset

As the Olympic Games are on our breath and the tip of our tongues, let’s talk about what makes an athlete a winning athlete and for ease of use I will assume it is a HE and he’s a long distance runner:

• He wakes up late and drags himself out of bed weary and tired from not having slept enough, he went to bed late having stayed up to watch the telly
• He showers and has a cup of strong coffee to wake up, he’s not really hungry so he skips breakfast
• He drags himself off to the track not really knowing what the day’s plan is
• He looks at the track, sits down and stares blankly at his trainers, in his mind he knows he should be training
• He picks up his lovely white iPhone to see if there are any messages
• He stares blankly at his trainers, he knows he should be training
• He decides to send some texts and emails
• He stares blankly at his trainers, he knows he should be training
• He looks at the time, 11:05, time to get a Starbucks coffee
• He logs into the wireless and checks his Facebook page, reads a really interesting article on hair extensions, has a chat with a friend and drinks his coffee
• He convinces himself he’s done some work, after all you have to keep up with what’s going on, don’t you ?
• He stares blankly at his trainers, he knows he should be training
• It’s now lunch time and he’s feeling a peckish so he takes a lunch break, “I’m allowed to have a lunch break”, he hears himself say
• He walks back to the track staring at his trainers, he knows he should be training

I don’t need to go on … do I?

So what stops you from planning your day, getting on track, training till you’ve achieved what you set out to do and feeling really good that every movement, every thought, every decision was driven by your willingness and “wantingness” to succeed.

You are your own worst enemy and you have the power to succeed or sabotage yourself. Our ability to sabotage ourselves comes from old thought patterns that are fear-based e.g  fear of failure, fear of ridicule, fear of rejection, fear of not being good enough, fear of not being valued etc. We then developed strategies to cope with these fears and we’ve used them so often that they’ve become automatic. That’s when we say, “That’s me, I have always been like this and I cannot change.” Sound familiar?

I know you know that this behaviour and mindset will get you nowhere fast. So how about doing it differently? How about making a decision to get yourself in position to be the very best you can be, to give yourself the opportunity to become a winner?

“How?” I hear you ask ….

 Success Thinking, Being and Doing

Most of us know that winning is all about the mind – it is all about what we’ve been thinking, our thinking dominates and controls absolutely everything. It owns our body, our emotions and our behaviours which determines the results we get. So are you doing well? Are the results you are getting better than expected? Are you proud of them? YES? Or NO? If YES then STOP reading and get back to the track! If NO then ….

Know what you want

Get clarity on what you want to have, learn and experience. You must know where you want to go. You must have a destination in mind so that you’ll know where to go and you’ll know when you get there.

Plan your day

Only do the right things in your business that moves you closer to your destination.

• Create a list of 3 key things every day that will actively move you towards your goal
• Make sure you associate the appropriate time required to each task so you can achieve it
• Put it in your diary and treat it like a customer appointment
• We love to achieve things and tick them off the list – make sure you can do this every day so it motivates you to continue focussing on the task at hand

Minimise Interruptions and Distractions

We waste 25 mins for every distraction.

• Turn Facebook, Phone AND Email off during your task times – I promise you the world will still be here when you turn them back on
• Include 3 separate 30 mins slots in the day to handle calls and emails – suggestion is around 10:00 / around 14:00 and around 17:00

Breathe deeply 4-7x every 1.5 hrs

We can focus for 1.5 hrs at a time then we need a break – instead of having a coffee or a cigarette, simply breathe.  Look on the right hand side and subscribe for a free relaxation audio which teaches you how to breathe.

Ask

• Ask for help
• Ask for the order / sale / business
• Ask for the next step
• Ask for referrals
• Ask for testimonials
• Ask for ….

If you don’t ask you won’t get

Prepare

Preparation is key, prepare for your meeting, prepare for your client, prepare for your presentation, prepare for your elevator pitch, and prepare for your networking meeting. Without preparation you will be seen as someone who just shows up and showing up isn’t enough

Drink

Drink? Really? Yes – drink enough water during the day to hydrate your body and your brain. Without water you cannot think clearly, you cannot operate efficiently and you cannot succeed

Here’s to your success

She says holding up a glass of water, oh and by the way the runner is on the track and training, his coach arrived and kicked his &*££

If you found this of value then please comment – I never know if what I write actually hits home. If you hated it then say so, if you loved it then say so …. It only takes a few mins