Small Business: Are you a Winner or are you Happy to Just be on the Team?

In honor of Super Bowl XLIV I want to write about what it takes to be a winner. Whether it’s sports, business or life there are a few things that separate the winners from the losers. 

What It Takes To Be a Winner
1. The desire to win. This may seem really obvious. But stop. Really think about it a minute: The desire to WIN.   Do you really have a desire to WIN or do you simply have a desire to be there?   Are you happy just to show up every Sunday and play or do you want to be the best and make it to the Big Game? As a business owner, did you set out to create something that earns you recognition (in the form of lots of customers) and renders the fulfillment of a dream and a lifestyle?  Or did you start your business just to show up to a job every day that didn’t require taking orders from someone else? So, is your goal to win- or just to be on the team?
2. The belief that you can win. If you go into any endeavor or wake up each morning thinking “I can’t” – you won’t.  The key to being a success is believing that you can do anything you put your mind to and putting all of your energy and efforts into making it happen.  I doubt a single Super Bowl winner went into the Big Game – or the NFL for that matter – thinking they couldn’t win.  There are no pessimists in the winner’s circle.  If you think your business isn’t meant for big things, you won’t ever achieve big things.  If you think “I can’t {sell, market, grow, find the time…}” – Then guess what, you won’t. If Peyton Manning had said, “There is no way I’ll be the NFL MVP 4 times in my career”, he wouldn’t have been. No matter what, believe that you can – and you will.  
3. Hard work and commitment. No one ever achieved anything by just sitting around and waiting for good things to happen. Luck doesn’t make winners; hard work, commitment and perseverance do. If you want something you have to go out and get it. You have to work hard, you have to learn and practice and push yourself beyond your comfort zones.  Jerry Rice didn’t get to the Hall of Fame by keeping his workouts and training comfortable and easy; he pushed himself -each and every day – to do better than he did the previous day.  And Peyton Manning didn’t make it to his 2nd Super Bowl by resting on his laurels after his first Super Bowl win or by giving up when he didn’t win the next one.   Success is hard work. Success is a commitment. It’s   completely up to you. Do you simply want to play… or do you want to win?

 
What are you doing in your business to push yourself beyond your comfort zone to take your game to the next level; to make it to the big time?  And for fun, who are you rooting for today and why?  Leave your comments by clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the next page.