I was reminded today of the thin line between winning and losing. As I (sadly) watched the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team lose a 12-point lead to Michigan State, and eventually the game, it showed clearly what they do differently when they lose compared to when they win.
Execution of fundementals.
They missed easy shots, they threw the ball away, they got lost on defense… all things they did very well for the last 5 games (that they won) and the first 30 minutes of today’s game.
How can you relate this to winning at what you do?
1.) Define What is Winning for You
Winning can be different things for different people. For instance, if you’re a writer – a win for you may be publishing daily blog posts, or finish the next chapter in your book. It might also be scoring a top 10 search result from great SEO writing or even creating a million dollars in sales from your next sales letter.
Whatever your situation is, clearly define what a win is for you. Most of the time it won’t be like basketball – or any other sport – where a final score at the end of the game is the final answer.
2.) Know Your Fundementals
For the most part, the fundementals that lead you to success in your venture will most likley be related to two things: work ethic and skill.
Work ethic could be things like perservering through the times you don’t want to work (write, program, sell, recruit, etc.). It’s these instances that make and break people. If you can maintain persistance, chances are you can excel at what you’re doing.
Skills can obviously be learned, focused, and refined. If you feel like you need a new skill to win – by all means go learn it – but be careful that you don’t overwhelm yourself with learning new things and lose all focus on developing business. It may be possible that taking on a partner to bridge the gap of your skills is the better option.
3.) Create a Game Plan
Having skills and work ethic can only take you so far. Without knowing how and when to execute, you could be a real talented nobody.
How does your week look? Write down some broad guidelines for how you spend your time each week. Time management is typically the biggest key between people who get ahead, and people who don’t.
How many calls do you make on what days? How often to your write and how much? If you don’t know what to expect from yourself daily, weekly, monthly and long-term – no one else will know either.
Leave room for refining your schedule – as things change and it’s not fair to yourself or your family to be completely inflexible.
4.) Keep Score
Keeping score in the business of winning at what you do can be tricky. It’s not always fair to get down on yourself if you miss a writing appointment or don’t get through as many sales calls as you planned. However, if you have your game plan set – you’ll be able to keep score easier, knowing if you lost a day or won a day.
At the end of a week or month, you’ll have a clear idea of where your weak spots are and can adjust to get better.
5.) Believe
Every post on Good Plum can really come back to this. If you don’t believe you deserve to win in whatever it is you’re doing, there’s nothing you can do to get there. It’s cruel but true. It doesn’t even matter what you say outwardly. Saying, “I believe I deserve to be successful” doesn’t mean you will be if it doesn’t resonate within the core of your soul.
If you have work to do in this area, keep watching Good Plum for posts on the law of attraction, or do some research on your own. The work you do increasing the level of belief you have in yourself will pay off in multiples down the road.
Good luck!
