How to Adopt a Winning Attitude

To adopt a winning attitude is to unlock the keys to a successful, meaningful life. Launch yourself in the desired direction, it all starts with attitude...

How to Adopt a Winning Attitude

Have you ever met someone with a really impressive, super-infectious attitude to life? Their optimistic and diligent mindset is admirable; they seem to be so confident in the outlook that life will turn out just fine. 

That's what a winning attitude looks like. 

Let's talk about ways to adopt a winning attitude so we can equip ourselves with the mental foundation needed to experience a happy, successful life. 

1. Keep your eyes forward 


Those with a winning mindset move only in one direction - forward. So to adopt a winning attitude, you cannot linger in the past. Winners have a powerful momentum, they just keep doing.

A winning attitude starts with eyes that are firmly fixed on the finish line or end goal. Head up, eyes forward. To develop a winning attitude, you can't spend most of your time thinking and ruminating on what went wrong in the past. Yes, you should learn, but you can't linger. You should spend most of your time thinking about future goals and plans and how you can keep moving forward. Every step brings you closer to your goal. 

2. Why not? is the question to ask more 


Adopt a winning attitude by constantly asking yourself this question: 

'Why not?'

Break down the self-imposed barriers that are holding you down. Remember, you are only confined by the walls you build yourself. 


We tend to knock ourselves down a lot with thoughts like "I can't" or "It probably won't work". But adopting a winning mindset means interrupting such pessimism with a burst of curiosity and openness. Challenge those negative thoughts with the question: "Why not?". 


You'll soon realise that we often hold ourselves back without just cause. If you were to really investigate the situation, you would realise that there is no legitimate reason why you cannot be successful. The flimsy excuses will come to light as what they are. 


We are often our own worst enemy. But with the question "Why not?", we make the switch to becoming the defenders of our grandest dreams. 

3. You can be in that 2% 


One of my favourite quotes is by Steve Case, the Co-Founder of Aol: 

"You shouldn't focus on why you can't do something, which is what most people do. You should focus on why perhaps you can, and be one of the exceptions."


I really love this quote. It thoroughly exudes a winning attitude. The concept is similar to the previous point about asking 'why not?'. 


Here's the thing: If someone has done what you want to do before, then why are you so doubtful that you can too? If they are human and they have done it, is it really so out of your reach? Adopting a winning attitude means going into an activity or even aspiration with the thought that 'If they can do it, I can too." Yes, you can. 


Here's the second thing: If someone has not done what you want to do before, why can't you do it, and set the record? A winning mindset doesn't focus on being in with the majority, a person with a winning mindset is really intrigued with the exceptions to the rule. If you think that way, you can do something very interesting and very different.

You can be an exception, and in that 2% (of whatever). 

4. Don't expect all sunshine though 


A winning attitude is still a realistic attitude. Be hopeful, but you shouldn't expect sunshine and roses 24/7. After all, there has to be a period of rain for growth to occur. 

Part of adopting a winning attitude is accepting failure as a part of life. Those people you admire with a winning attitude are well acquainted with failure, not shielded from it. 


In fact, accepting and embracing failure is a must, because if you never fail it means you're not doing much. 

Expect times when no matter how hard you've tried, you still don't know the answer. Times when you have to do your research, when you have to ask for help, when you have to learn from the sum of the experience. Expect years of putting in hard work with no visible results. If you expect all of that, then you will be able to patiently endure until your reward eventually comes around. 


5. Be grateful


Those who can be grateful for what they have will get more. 

Practising gratitude results in abundant benefits in various aspects of life. Gratitude will make you happy, because it will help you realise how fortunate you are to a) be alive, b) to have experienced all the good things you have already experienced. 


This is important because you need to be happy to truly have a winning attitude. Who wants to be grumpy anyway?

I find that gratitude has a tendency to open up a lot of unexpected doors. Your grateful mindset will attract you to like-minded people, and will make people feel comfortable around you. In that way, gratitude allows you to receive more blessings and opportunities, all the while giving you joy. 

6. Be careful


To adopt a winning attitude, you have to be careful of what you feed your mind and general consciousness. 

You want to build up happy, confident energy, so stay away from negative influences that drain it. 

Adopting a winning attitude is a process that can be sensitive, especially at the beginning when you've been used to thinking and acting quite differently. It requires that you limit contact with people who are sore losers or even jealous of those who are winning. 

You will want to watch out for other people's own fear and uncertainty that often comes out as a lack of support - or worse - discouragement. It's called protecting yourself from negativity and it requires proactive effort, both in realising the things people might possibly say, but also how to ignore it. 


Adopt a winning attitude by adopting life lessons that others pass on through books and interviews. Adopt a winning attitude by spending time with encouraging people in person. You absorb a lot through the thoughts and reflections that consume your consciousness from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed. 

By strategically selecting these influences and reminding yourself of the importance of the end goal, you can and will adopt a winning attitude. 


What do you do to help you adopt a winning attitude? Comment below! 

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