I have been guesting on a few podcasts lately, and one of the topics I cover is developing a winner’s mindset. A few years ago, I developed a simple schematic. It was the most natural way I could explain how I recovered quickly and near perfectly from the effects of two strokes.
It works and exceptionally well too!
Little did I know, what I drew is the exact formula world-class athletes, trend-setting business people and pretty much anybody at the top of their game follows.
Not once during my life did anyone ever give me the picture and say, “Here. Follow this.” I learned early in my life that I alone was responsible for setting my direction, I needed help from many sources to get there. So, when I drew my little inverted triangle with six levels to show the process of how I beat the medical odds, I was bringing all my personal experience of working, living and playing together.
I assure you of two things: every single success I have ever had is because I went through every one of the six steps. And the times I did not succeed, were because I forgot, omitted or ignored one or more of the steps.
This six-stage winner’s mindset program can apply to nearly every single situation you encounter in your life. Whether you seek professional success, want to overcome personal adversity, take your teams or business to greater heights, embark on a different career or business venture, leave your spouse, or even find a new one.
Let’s begin
Imagine an inverted triangle with six horizontally parallel lines crossing it at equal points.
- The very bottom of the inverted triangle is the smallest piece. That is the make a decision and commit part. You don’t do this halfway or just a little bit. You are “all in” so much you feel it in your bones. In your mind’s eye, you have a picture of what the result of that decision will be, and that picture is burned into your brain. What you are doing at this stage is fixating and fixing on your ultimate destination. The other five layers will be your reinforcements and roadmaps.
- The next level is also relatively small, in the scheme of things. It is the ‘gather your energy close’ layer. What you are doing is massively reinforcing yourself and your decision with a huge jolt of internal energy. While you don’t need to spend a lot of time here, you do need to think about how you will marshall your energy resources. For me, the best way is to feel gratitude for everything in my current life. When I was in the hospital, I spent a lot of time marvelling at the other patients in the wing. Compared to them, I had minor issues. Perhaps you could look at how far you have come in your life and thank yourself for the friendships, fights, successes and lessons that got you to this exact place.
- The third level of the winner’s mindset is the ‘get crystal clear’ step. As you can see, this level is getting much more significant as we travel up the inverted triangle. Here is where you want to be brutally honest with yourself. About what you have and more importantly, what you don’t have. Here is where you begin to understand what is necessary for the situation you want to end up in. For example, I see far too many people jumping into the entrepreneurial route today with zero knowledge about how a business works. I also see far too many owners with out of date ideas on how to motivate employees. And we can all see for ourselves the Peter principle in action. So, try this. Do not jump headlong into something with no knowledge. Think thru first how you can acquire that knowledge or pay someone to do it for you.
- The fourth layer is often omitted. It is the ‘map out your strategy pillars’. This comes down to knowing what you can do today and what you need to do for tomorrow. Your strategy pillars do not need to be complicated; they need to be succinct and written down. As an example, one might devote a certain percentage of time to harnessing x. It could be light the way for others to follow. It could be ‘follow the instructions of x for a certain period of time.’ The reason why more people are not winners is they do not map out their strategy. They focus only on a few items of the 150 individual actions or tactics that could eventually get them there.
On the winner’s mindset inverted triangle, the top two layers are the biggest. The reason for this is two-fold: they are the hardest stages, and they require the most time, action and commitment.
- From the top of the inverted triangle, the second layer is called Focus. Focus is all about having faith and confidence that what you do today WILL work. Focus is about being incredibly organized and committed. Stick to it, no matter what. We all suffer from shiny object syndrome and not sticking with it long enough. These two weaknesses have killed more winners than I care to share.
- The top layer of the inverted triangle is ‘Take Action’. This is were so many people falter and drop out. This is where winners excel. Through the sheer monotony of doing something, working thru the tactics, over and over and over again. When I was in hospital, I detested all the repetitive exercises. And I got to a point, I wasn’t sure my left hand would EVER get back to normal. Yet after 90 consecutive days of agonizing and boring exercises, I rotated my left hand exactly as it used to be. That day I screamed with joy!
Yes You Can
Sports heroes, amazing spiritual and business leaders, as well as terrific business owners, have all reached their success pinnacle with this six-step winner’s mindset program.
Because you want to make a greater impact in your world, I encourage you to give this program consideration. Because you can too!
And if you are interested in delving a bit deeper, check out the related podcast here.
To your success!
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