Madelyn Wilson
Everyone loves and admires a champion. Unfortunately, few people have what it actually takes to become a champion. According to a sports psychologist, Dr. Bob Rotella this is because real champions (whether they’re in business, sports, or any other field) do things differently in almost every single aspect of their lives.
They Create the Right Environment
It all starts with creating the right mindset – one that matches your success. This mindset is important if you want to perform your best. It’s based on two main qualities:
- Optimism: This is the hopefulness they need to believe that things are going to be successful. It’s important because a lot of big dreams feel impossible. By making the choice to be optimistic, you’re choosing not to be pessimistic – not to see all the struggles, adversity, and obstacles. When you’re pessimistic you’re more likely to decide to quit because you allow your subconscious mind to control you. While it’s true that your subconscious mind monitors all the thoughts you have about yourself, it’s also important to understand that your subconscious is susceptible to suggestion and can be changed. You need to make the choice to continue to feed it positive thoughts and images so you can start to believe that things can turn out well if you work hard and believe it can happen even when the odds are almost always against massive success.
- Confidence: This is the ability to truly trust in yourself even when you make a big mistake. It’s the ability to overcome your mistakes and not let them hold you down. Confidence lies in your choice to only remember the good and to forget about the bad.
When you have a combination of optimism and self-confidence in place it’s easier to craft the right self-image. This is because research demonstrates that people tend to become what they think of themselves. As a champion, you need to have a different self-image than the average person. This is important because your self-image determines how successful you’ll be in life. Instead of using negative self-talk and doubting your abilities, you need to fuel yourself with encouragement. It doesn’t matter how much or how little talent you have here. Talent will only get you so far. While it’ll provide some great initial momentum, it’ll only last for so long. Hard work and determination are what really pay off. This is because talent can be stopped but hard work is unstoppable.
They’re Committed
Now that you’ve established the right mindset and work ethic, it’s time for you to commit to the process. Actually, you should go beyond simply committing to it. Goal Cast says you should find a way to love it just as much as you love its results. This means being both devoted and committed to improving yourself every single day you’re alive. It also means loving the small details involved in preparing for the next big moment as much as you love the big moments themselves. After all, it’s your daily rituals that will produce the massive success you’re seeking.
Another thing that’s important for you to understand is that you’ll make real progress when you stay committed to working towards the progress. You won’t win every time you practice, but you will take a step closer to greatness. This is why it’s so important for you to love the game – win or lose, good days or bad days. To form this type of commitment you need to develop a resilient, persevering attitude. You also need to understand what Spartan warriors mean when they say, “Sweat in practice so you don’t bleed in war.” (For those who aren’t yet in the know, these warriors are telling you that you need to practice hard. You need to undergo long, grueling workouts so you’ll be ready when you need to be – a moment in time you’ll never know about before it happens).
These are all choices that you need to make. You need to choose to be proud of your persistence and patience. You need to understand that setbacks are inevitable, but that you shouldn’t ever take these things personally or allow them to diminish the faith you have in yourself.
Sometimes the best way to achieve this faith is by reverse-engineering your goal. Simply, this means breaking your big goals down into small, attainable steps. These intermediate goals are equally as important as the larger goals you set for yourself. They’ll provide you with the short-term satisfaction you need to keep you motivated as you work toward your biggest goal. They’ll also help you get over losses quickly. While this is tough, you need to start seeing this as a learning opportunity instead of letting yourself dwell on it. Allow it to feed your fire and desire for greatness instead of crushing you. Additionally, you can’t allow yourself to make snapshot judgments about your abilities after a loss. Negative self-talk isn’t something a champion engages in. Instead, they remain optimistic and learn from their mistakes so they can work toward a performing better in the future.
They Surround Themselves with Winners
As you set yourself up to be a champion, you also need to continue to take control of your future. One of the best ways of doing this is to get advice from leaders. They’ll help you to see that failure and setbacks are inevitable, but it’s the way that you respond to these things that will separate you from everyone else. How you react will determine how successful you’ll be in the future.
Undoubtedly, the people who are closest to you play a major role in how successful you’ll become. Nobody has ever made it big on their own. Everyone needs some help along the way. Listen to the leaders who have faced the challenges in life and were able to make their dreams come true. Attend conferences where Conference speakers share their journey from what they were to what they are today. Ultimately though you must be willing to take full responsibility for yourself and your life. You must learn to control your mind and body, making them align with your goals. There are no shortcuts here. You need a plan, the right attitude, and resilience. With them, you can accomplish anything.
Seems like sound advice to me.