Being a winner

"A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals." ~ Larry Bird

We are all given talents; some are more apparent than others. Why do some people become winners and others, no matter how hard they try, always seem to come up short of their goals. We will be examining Mary and Sally's stories for some insights into the answer to this question. There are, of course, several reasons why people fail to attain their goals. Sometimes it is as simple as not knowing what their life mission(s) and goals are.

Mary and Sally were co-workers at Smith Trucking Company. They had worked together on various projects during the two-year time period Mary been employed there. Sally had shown Mary the ropes when she first started dispatching. Though they worked in two different areas of Smith Trucking, both were in attendance at a meeting Tom Smith called early Friday morning of all key personnel. Tom shared with them a new ambitious project that he wanted to undertake. He outlined a rough-draft plan. He gave them the day off with pay to think about it.

"Plan to come in Monday morning with a game plan for how you would each approach the undertaking of this project. Here is a budget goal. Whoever has the best plan will be promoted to manager of this new division. That person will take my "baby" project and grow it to be a successful part of our operations," Tom informed them.

Both Mary and Sally were excited about the project. They could see a great value in adding this new department to their company. Let's go with each of them and see how they did.
Sally quickly left the office and called her mother to tell her about the new project. Sally's mother was a hard working individual who had spent her whole life working hard to just get by. She was happy that Sally had a great job working for a secure company who had been in business for 50 years.

"Sally, I think this sounds wonderful. Of course, I don't know anything about it. Aren't you worried about going out on a limb with a project like this, not knowing what your boss wants you to do for sure? It could backfire, and if it did not turn out well, you might be blamed. You had better make sure what he really wants, and then just do what your supposed to do. You know that jobs are hard to come by. A lot of people are out of work now you know."

"But, Mother, he told us he wants us to come up with the plan. He gave us a budget to keep and wants our ideas on how to make this project a success. Don't you see he wants our input?"

"Well, Dear, I am just looking out for your best interest. Why if this is his baby, hasn't he figured it out for himself? Maybe it is impossible to do with that budget. Maybe he needs someone to blame. You better be careful, that's all I am saying. Don't take chances."

Sally got off the phone with her mother feeling very troubled. She grabbed her notes on the plans, sat down and reviewed them with a critical eye. The budget was really tight to do this type of undertaking. She had never had any experience in anything on a scale this big. What did she know about completing a project like this....

Some people never really set goals. They just spend most of their life reacting to whatever life throws at them. They hope by choosing the best they can each day they will somehow manage to arrive at success without goals. When they do try something different, they often ask for advice from their friends and relatives. Quite often, they are no more successful than they are. This leads people to begin tasks with the attitude for failure. The naysayers and negative self-talk that goes on between their own ears starts with the first step. They’ve already set their minds for disappointment. They are setting themselves up for failure before they even start. It is as though they are bracing themselves in advance for their plans to fail. They mentally prepare themselves to expect less than their goal. They fail because they think they will.

Let's check in with Mary. Mary had left the meeting excited about the project. She stopped at her office and spent fifteen minutes organizing her thoughts about what the mission of the project really was. What goals would have to be achieved for this mission to be put into action? She gathered her notes. On her way out of the office, she knocked on Tom's door.

"Hi Tom. I was just on my way out. I thought I would stop by and ask you a couple of questions regarding the project. Do you have a few moments?"

"Sure, Mary. Come on in."

"Thanks. We did not really talk about a time line in the meeting. I wonder when you plan for this project to be completed? I would like to know what resources we have available. Can we use personnel that are not in our division as team members in this project? How do you feel about outsourcing if necessary to independent contractors?"

"Those are great questions, Mary. Sorry I didn't address them in the meeting. I would like to get this project up and running by Labor Day. I know total completion will probably take a year. I would like to have all the ground broke and the foundation laid before it starts freezing. You can consider any resources both inside and outside of the company, but try to keep as close to the budget as is possible."

Mary drove home thinking of the project mission and goals. She started thinking about what steps and tasks would need to be done. What role would she play? What roles would she need team members to play? Who would fill those roles? Upon arriving home, she grabbed a blank sheet of paper and drew a time line across the middle with an ending date a year out. She entered in a ground-breaking and foundation laid by the end of August.

She spent time brainstorming what other goals would be. What tasks and actions would need to be done? When? What resources would need to be used? What roles would have to be committed to? Who would be the best people to achieve those roles?

She was amazed when she looked at her watch and realized it was now four o'clock! She had been so caught up in the project that she had worked through lunch. She grabbed her list of possible people resources and started calling them. A breakfast meeting was planned for the next morning with her core team members...

There is a definitive distinction between the attitudes of the successful versus the unsuccessful. The successful start out with a mission in mind, and that mission is broken down into goals and tasks with the planned actions which are all set on a date line. They do not assume the role of sole ownership for each action and goal, but rather take the team approach and get power players on their team. They know their individual role and know their unique gifts, talents and skills. They build their power team with individuals who are smarter or more talented in areas where they lack skills. They, then, outsource specific tasks which are delegated to those who have the gifts, talents and skills necessary to successfully complete each of them. Then they go for it!

They go for it with the same mindset as you do when you go about the task of driving to a familiar location. You know your destination (mission) and how to get there (goals). You know exactly what steps you need to get in your car and drive it there (tasks and actions). Then you give it your all and come out successful at it. You never doubt your ability to complete the drive to this destination; you just give it your all. If you approach each mission with it's goals, tasks and actions the same way; then the delight that you’ll feel will be incomparable, and you will be a winner. Developing a winner's outlook is one of the most basic characteristics
needed for achievement.

Sadly, our society ingrains in us to expect the worst, yet hope for the best. We are taught to accept that our dreams will probably never be reached, and that we should prepare to accept a life short of our goals. Just last week a lady I was speaking to told me that is growing up! Really?!....Is that what we teach our youth? Does being grown up mean accepting less than their dreams? Do we tell them that this is the responsible thing to do? I am afraid so. We teach them to get safe, secure jobs and not to worry if their dreams are not realized. We are telling them,

"Put those dreams on the back burner and call them "Someday dreams"."

A lot of the people do not want to take responsibility for the way their life has turned out. Some people learn at an early age to play the victim of fate. A victim is absolved of any accountability that comes as a repercussion of their choices. But, then, if something good happens, they immediately jump at the chance of taking credit. If we are honest with ourselves once we turn adults, we are seldom the victim unless we choose that role either willingly or by not choosing another role. If we fail to make a choice, that is also a choice in itself.

Your mind creates what it focuses on. When you have nothing in it but negativity, naysayers dialog, and your own negative self-talk, then reality will manifest these negatives you focus on. So when you have a half-hearted attitude towards what you do, you will never get the result that you want for the simple reason that your heart won’t be in it. It is as impossible to be successful with a negative focus as it is to get out of bed with only half your body. You either get out of bed or you fail to.

The successful, on the other hand, take the repercussions head on. They face up to their responsibilities and believe that they can achieve most anything they desire if they just never give up. They come up against the road blocks and take a step back and look for the correct way to over come them or to work their way around them. Once winners decide to do something, it is only a matter of time before it actually happens. All hindrances are just measly tactics to delay them from reaching the end.

What are your "Someday Dreams"?

Do you know what your life mission is for all the areas of your life?