Dictionary.com defines Winning, in adjective form as successful or victorious acts, or the noun as the act of a person or thing that wins.
So, Winning Habits would be something like subconscious behavior that routinely brings about successful acts without consciously thinking about them.
What Winning is not;
1. Winning is not about IQ, and while talent helps, it is not always necessary
2. Winning is not necessarily about starting out with more money
3. Winning is not about luck
4. Winning is not about education
5. Winning is not about being in the right place at the right time
Winning is the self-management of attitudes and actions that become daily habit patterns. Losing and winning lifestyles are reflex habits, like brushing your teeth and driving your car.
Successful people win by developing good habits and disciplines...and never giving up. I said....NEVER GIVING UP.
Ben Franklin, at the age of 19, felt there were 13 virtues important to him and until his death at 76 he worked on improving one each week. His virtues were self-control, silence, order, determination, economy, productivity, truthfulness, justice, moderation, cleanliness, peace, chastity, and humility. For 57 years he worked on developing better habits surrounding these virtues; 228 times he paid specific attention to each of his virtues. No doubt that his success was heavily weighed against this discipline, nor is there doubt that this discipline developed subconscious habits.
Here are suggestions for some habits that will help with winning;
1. Develop the Habit of remembering that success, and life, is a process
2. Develop the Habit of dreaming your own dream; know who you are and where you want to go, but prepare yourself more than the path.
3. Develop the Habit of living according to your true mission and values.
4. Develop the Habit of working out your mission with a plan and a purpose
5. Develop the Habit of aligning your motives, agenda, and behavior - don't be a faker.
6. Develop the Habit of working at what you do well; determine your Core Competency Factors (Talents, Attitude, Skills and Knowledge)
7. Develop the Habit of dropping the excuses / stop blaming others and yourself; see QBQ by John Miller.
8. Develop the Habit of trusting AND verifying; inspect what you expect.
9. Develop the Habit of polishing your shoes - make a good impression
10. Develop the Habit of treating failure and problems as fertilizer - learning experiences provide growth; failure is an event, not a person (Zig Ziglar)
11. Develop the Habit of focusing your energy on one thing at a time. Studies show that multi-tasking causes short-term memory loss (seriously).
12. Develop the Habit of realizing things are not usually what they seem; seek clarity, ask questions, and accept advice (see post in this blog about Bad Teamwork/Conflict)
14. Develop the Habit of never giving up; you might be Three Feet From Gold (see book by that name)
15. Develop the Habit of developing a reputation for being early; it's an incredible show of credibility
16. Develop the Habit of acting like you're self-employed; have the entrepreneur attitude and think "sell something...no matter what your position."
17. Develop the Habit of being honest with everyone, including yourself - your reputation always precedes you; you know when you aren't honest and it depletes the credibility you have with yourself
18. Develop the Habit of not compromising your integrity for the sake of winning; see #17
19. Develop the Habit of working with people that have the values and character that you strive for; don't compromise; your going to be same you are today except for what you listen to and watch, what you read, and who you associate with.
20. Develop the Habit of looking over your shoulder and evaluating your performance; looking back at today, yesterday, last week / month / year. Don't waste the struggles nor the triumphs.
21. Develop the Habit of increasing your knowledge base; never stop learning and never stop changing with the learning. You'll be the same as you are today except for what you listen to and watch, who you associate with and what you read.
You're going to be the same 5 years from today as you are today except for the habits you change; you change habits by who you associate with, what you watch and listen to, and what you read.
The world is changing; you win by changing and/or improving your habits.
To that end.......God Bless,
2 comments:
It sounds like you are saying that winning habits are things that can be learned...and if it can be learned - it can be taught.
But is "winning" an internal state or an external state? In other words, is winning solely dependent upon how I feel about things - or does someone else have to recognize that I am successful?
Which leads to - where does one look to find out if they are winning? In the mirror or at others? Can someone be successful if no one else sees it?
Yes, my experience shows me that winning habits can be taught, and learned. Though....just because someone learns something doesn't mean he'll use that knowledge to change himself and his surroundings.
Winning can be both; if you are keeping score (football) winning is about who scored the most points - that's external. Yet, there might be some internal victories associated with how well you played the game.
As to the last 2 questions, and assuming you are talking about "life;" winning is internal. Only you and God know the score.
Can someone be successful if no one else sees it? That depends upon each person's definition of success, but yes, true success can't be seen. Can it?
To complete this answer about your comments though; it is very doubtful that anyone will be successful without good habits, good disciplines...seen or otherwise. And that is not my opinion, but personal experience and having read thousands of pages of the successful, and not so successful.
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