Get Into The Habit of Winning
Kathy Gates, Professional Life Coach
www.reallifecoach.com
Award-winning coach, Bill Parcels says: “When you’ve done a lot
of losing, it gets hard to imagine yourself winning. Confidence
is only born out of demonstrated ability. In training camp, we
don’t focus on the ultimate goal of getting to the Super Bowl.
We establish a clear set of goals that are within immediate
reach“.
What lessons about daily life goals can we learn from a Super
Bowl winning coach? I’m glad you asked.
And here’s the answer: *The only way to break the habit of
losing is to begin to get into the habit of winning.*
Get into the habit of winning by choosing an obtainable goal.
For example, if saving seems to be totally impossible, just put
$5 in a cookie jar each week. If getting exercise into your day
seems overwhelming, try just walking in place for 10 minutes
after lunch. Find something towards your goals that you know you
can accomplish. The first key is that you Start, not how much
you do. You can always add to it later. .
Get into the habit of winning by choosing a mindset for winning.
Be sure to put your goal in positive terms. Not “Don’t eat Oreos
after dinner”, but instead “Make a healthy dessert for after
dinner”. Avoid choosing a goal that you’ve been unsuccessful at
over and over. With that, you already have a mindset for
failure. Try something new to help you -- as Coach Parcels notes
above -- develop a mindset for winning.
Get into the habit of winning by being accountable.
Goals cannot be achieved by making excuses. If you want
something -- whether that’s losing weight, getting organized,
saving money -- it all begins with deciding that you are willing
to do what it will take to accomplish it. Raise what you expect
of yourself and you’ll see results.
Get into the habit of winning by accentuating the positive.
When you achieve a goal, acknowledge it. Life is not about “when
I get XXX”. Life is about acknowledging and enjoying the steps
along the way. Every piece is as important as the next. Think
of it as constructing a building. The first brick laid is as
important as the last. Celebrate your success along the way.
Get into the habit of winning by remind yourself of successes of
the past.
Why is this important? In today’s world of “what have you done
for me today”, it’s easy to lose track of past successes. And
while past successes won’t help you anymore than that shower you
had this morning will help you a week from now, remembering that
you have succeeded can be a good starting place. If you’ve
“forgotten how to win”, use past successes to springboard from.
You have been a winner before, and you can do it again.
Winning is a habit. Winning is a mindset. Winning is an
attitude.
When you set small, visible goals and achieve them, you begin to
start to get it in your head that you can succeed. You begin to
believe in yourself, and the motivation sets in, and you’re off
to the Super Bowl.
Kathy Gates is a Professional Life Coach in Scottsdale AZ. I
help people deal with the stress of every day living in a more
organized and efficient manner. Get more information at my
website Real Life Coach, http://www.reallifecoach.com/ and sign
up for the newsletter.
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