When you think about the great winners in sports, you’d be surprised at how many traits they share with successful business owners. The truth is, being a champion is a mental state, not a physical state or a reward. It’s simply a manifestation of using the right attitude to achieve a shared goal.
Business owners can benefit greatly from studying great champions. Using their mental secrets allows business owners like you to get the competitive edge, build your customer base, and ultimately create an exceptional amount of revenue relative to others.
Here are the six secrets of how champions have that mental edge:
1 – Champions Do More: This is heard in all locker rooms, but the reality is champions always are searching for that edge. If you tell a champion to run a mile, they’ll run two. For business professionals, the same idea applies. If success means to do a process a certain amount of times, then double that amount. If you have a store, don’t just clean it the minimum amount, do more – make it spotless. This is how you get the edge.
2 – Champions Work When Others Sleep: This is again a cliché, but there’s truth to it. Dan Gable, who most consider the greatest wrestler in American history, was once asked by his Olympic coach why he trained at night after he trained during the day. Gable replied, “Because my opponent in the Soviet Union is training right now.” No one was going to outwork Gable, and he won the Gold medal because of his effort. Apply this to your business, what can you do while others are relaxing – this is where you gain the edge.
3 – Champions Work on Themselves: You’ll never hear a champion claim that someone had an advantage. They know that all competitors have advantages in one way or another. Instead, champions focus on what they can do. You’ll always see champions working on themselves. They don’t worry about their opponents. For your business, this is applicable in that you have to work your advantages. Competition will always have their advantages, but when you maximize yours, that’s how you win.
4 – Champions Help Their Teammates: The great teams always look to lift everyone up. When you think about dominant teams there aren’t very many stars as much as there is a collective sense of purpose. For your team, having a sense of purpose is critical to having your teammates help each other. There are no stars, but each person pulling the rope in the same direction.
5 – Champions Always Reinvent Themselves: No champion has ever repeated by doing the same thing over and over again. The competition figures it out. For business owners, this is as simple as always being creative and finding a new way to serve customers. Some attempts will succeed, others may fail. The goal is to always find a way to reinvent yourself in a way promoting your business and making the competition respond to you.
6 – Champions Do Not Fear Innovation: In sports, the analytics movement has revolutionized how teams play the game. In basketball, the three point shot is now used more because of its high value and in baseball look at all the innovation in Money ball. In business, innovation is critical for success. Try new ideas, challenge the norm and create an opening for your business to succeed in a new way.
A championship mindset is critical for your business to succeed, so adopting these mental edges allows your business to succeed in a time and place whether your competition will fall short.
“Remember that it is up to you to choose everyday to Get off Your Attitude and to create a positive lifestyle for yourself and others.”
Ryan C. Lowe
