Passions That Pay

Jenn Givler and I talked extensively on my BTR show, The Passion Project on how to adopt a winning mindset so that you can see increased success in all areas of your life.

I recently wrote an article on this subject so I thought it would be apropos to include it here.

Do you play to win?

It might seem an odd question at first and one to which you may immediately answer “yes, of course” to but think about it in more depth and maybe you will find out that the answer isn’t always yes.

Think about any one of the challenges that are in your life right now. Ask yourself what your next step would be in that project IF you were playing to win. Is it a step that you were considering anyway or did something new come up for you?

I know this was a particularly useful question for me when I was designing my first website. I was stuck in perfection paralysis, scared because I had never done anything like that before and sure I couldn’t create a quality website. When I asked myself “What would I do if I was playing to win?” the answer was obvious to me - get the website up and tweak it in the weeks and months to come until I was happier with it. With a new found resolve, I sat down and within a few hours my first website was launched. It was far from perfect and indeed was improved many times but it was up and doing its job of giving me a web presence. I realized that before I had been playing it safe, making sure I couldn’t lose by not having anything up there to be judged. This thinking, though common and understandable, stands in our way the whole time. Imagine a football team dedicated to not losing; putting all its efforts into defense and think how likely such a team would be to make it to the Superbowl? Sure they may not sink to the very bottom of the league tables but where is the glory in that?

There are times for playing it safe of course. Times when we need to consolidate our position or when not losing is an achievement in itself. But if you continuously block your own success then it is imperative that you look at that mindset and ask yourself if you really want to play small all your life.

Maybe losing is something you are familiar with so you throw away chances of success because you fear how you would handle it. Maybe you think you deserve to lose. If this sums you up then start planning very small wins into your life. Give yourself a challenge you know you can manage and celebrate your success. Realize that although you may have some discomfort and you may try to minimize your success, you can also enjoy the feelings of accomplishment. Build up slowly and on a daily basis until you start feeling comfortable with winning and achieving and then go for something big!

More commonly, people play in a safety zone where they are not losing but they are certainly not chasing their dreams. Money is tight maybe but bills are paid, they don’t like their job but they are progressing satisfactorily at it. Do you recognize yourself here? Are you playing hard enough not to lose but stopping short of really going for it? If so, again identify some area of your life that you think you could go further in and set up a small challenge. Maybe you could ask your boss for a modest pay rise or if you are working for yourself maybe stretch out to a new stream of income revenue.

So whenever a new challenge comes up, ask yourself first, if I was REALLY playing to win what would I do next?

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