Are You Playing to Win or Not to Lose? 5 Questions to Help
you Find Out
by Melanie Benson Strick
Published on this site: March 10th, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
My client Rachel is moving as fast as she can. Every day she
is running the marathon called "success" at lightening
speed. Meetings, client projects, telephone calls, leadership
commitments, volunteer responsibilities. You name it, she
does it. She is frustrated, overwhelmed, and just plain exhausted
doing everything that needs to be done to be a success.
The problem is her motivation is all wrong. Rachel is swimming
really fast so she won't drown vs. swimming fast to get to
the results she wants.
It doesn't.
Rachel has a deep dark secret. And the secret is that she
is afraid of failing. She is afraid that if she stops and
takes a breath that it will all fall apart. Her debt is looming.
All the stuff she should have done two years ago but didn't
is haunting her. She is afraid that someone will find out that maybe she
doesn't know what she is doing. So she plays hard and fast
to make sure that she doesn't fail. Swimming hard and fast
not to drown is just plain exhausting.
What if Rachel was swimming fast to win the gold medal? What
if every day she got in the water focused on swimming to get
to the other side in the fastest, most direct route possible?
What could be different about her experience?
That's exactly what I asked Rachel to do. Every day, get
in the game of success with the idea that you are playing
to win. It was like a big rock was lifted off her shoulders.
Her mood improved. Her focus was on what she did want - more
success. With her focus on her "big game" she began
to attract more clients, more significant opportunities, more
marketing partners and (most importantly) more fun. By playing to win you play the game
with a mindset of success.
Are you playing to win or not to lose? Here is how to tell
You are playing not to lose if you:
- Focus on what could go wrong
- Are afraid of what people might say
- Have goals that move you "away from" what you
don't want-Insist on playing in your comfort zone
- Surround yourself with people who think small or don't
believe in you
You are playing to win if you:
- Focus on creating your dream, goal or desired outcome
(and know when you will get there)
- Play with people who are making a lot more $$ than you
challenge yourself constantly to achieve massive results
- Consistently give yourself a raise, increase your revenue
and enjoy profits
- Commit to learning from others that you respect and admire
how to increase your skills as a business owner
- Which one are you? And which one would you like to be
more of?
It is a choice. Every day choose to be that person who is
playing to win. When a situation comes up that makes you unsure,
ask yourself, "What would it look like if I was playing
to win?" Just decide to play to win - swim for the gold
medal- rather than play not to lose. You will have more energy,
more freedom, more fun, and...more money! Sound good to you? Yeah, me too!
Melanie Benson Strick offers keynotes speeches, mentoring,
training and products designed to get people out of overwhelm
and onto the success fast-track. For your free copy of "The
5 Massive Mistakes that can Put you Out of Business.and How
to avoid them", visit http://www.SuccessConnections.com
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