Winning is a Mindset, Not an Outcome

This episode is completely my son's idea. Kenny jammed his finger a couple months ago. I noticed that he was dragging his feet with household chores because his finger hurt. He wasn't shooting the basketball well and losing in PIG because his finger was hurt. It seemed like everything Kenny did that first week, he was looking for empathy and wanting everyone to see him suffering. It also gave him a built in excuse why he wasn't performing in multiple tasks.

Was his finger hurt? Yes, it was. Was Kenny capable of more than he was showing? Yes, he was. I identified the mindset as "Loser's Limp". Zig Ziglar coined this phrase in his book "See You at the Top". Here's how I relate the concept from reading Zig's book. It's 4th and goal in overtime with 3 seconds on the clock. It's the last play of the game. The quarterback takes the snap and has a wide open receiver in the endzone. The receiver can squeeze the ball into his chest for the victory. He drops it as he falls to the ground. The game is over. The other team is celebrating. When the receiver gets up, he could say, "My bad." and take ownership, get better from it, and perform next time. However, he does something different. He gets up with a limp and hobbles off the field. The supposed injury masks his mistake. His teammates and fans show empathy. "He was hurt and couldn't make the catch." They validate his limp. They validate his excuse. They validate his losing mindset. Another example in the same sport is when the referee makes a bad call and that's why the other team won. Zig's example in the book is more about business. "I'm not a born salesperson or a born doctor, lawyer, artist, architect, etc." These people, like the football athlete, use this as an excuse whey they can't succeed. Zig also says."If you think you can or can't, you're right." The takeaway here is simple. You must decide to win or succeed. It's a mindset, not an outcome!

I explained this to Kenny. He didn't like it, but he agreed. Last week, Kenny and I were outside reading by the campfire and he stepped on a sharp twig. We literally had to cut skin away deep into his heel. It hurt. The next day, I watched him mow the lawn. He bandaged it up and completed the job in 1 hour! This is a big deal if you listened to the last podcast on Optimizing is More Mental than Physical. After he was done, he said this to me. "Dad, I found my Winner's Stride." I asked him what he meant and he shared. "I realized that I had the Loser's Limp and it was holding me back. I decided to think differently and stop looking for excuses for why I was losing. Instead, I starting finding ways to win."

If Zig were alive and heard this podcast, he would smile as his teaching made it's way into my son. But what about you? Have you ever been guilty of the "Loser's Limp" in your life? Have you ever used a disability, lack of opportunity, health or money challenges, mistreatment from others, injury, or 'not born with it' as an excuse for why you didn't succeed? I challenge you today. Turn that disability, lack, challenge, mistreatment into the reason why you succeed. That's how you create a platform to help others by sharing your testimony. Kenny called it the 'Winner's Stride'.  I'm a proud papa.