Winning!

Well, although my wife has hated it, the last couple of weeks have been an amazing sporting feast culminating in the Euro 2004 final on Sunday. For a sports mad fan like me it’s been a great couple of weeks!

Now its all over I’ve been reflecting on the great achievements: Greece winning Euro 2004, Sharapova beating Serena Williams in the ladies final at Wimbledon and the lows – England crashing out, Tim Henman losing again and the England cricket team losing in the one-dayers by a mile.

Now when you stand back I think there are great things we can all learn from these events, whether you like sport or not. There are a number of traits that differentiate the winners from the losers and we can all build these in to our daily lives. You see Greece weren’t lucky, Sharapova didn’t fluke a win, England’s football team weren’t hard done by and Tim Henman, well he had no excuses.

The winners did things differently and that’s what made them stand out.

So what did they do?

1. They had belief and didn’t fear failure

Everybody would say Greece and Sharapova had no right to achieve what they did. Well, they didn’t think so.

They had belief and when they were put in the situations where they could succeed they did. Why -because they didn’t fear failure. They did not let failure enter into their minds. All they focussed on was winning. Take Tim Henman or the England football team. Whether its media pressure or public expectation, they consistently under-deliver on the big occasion. It’s because they are consumed by the fear of failure. It affects every performance where they are expected to do well. That’s why when they are underdogs they often do well but when they are expected to win, they often fail.

True winners such as Schumacher, Navratilova, the Brazilians, the Aussie cricket team just focus on success.

2. They focussed on their strengths

Everybody, including the Greek side, would agree that they are not a great side in terms of talent. Why did they win? Well, they recognised their strengths and played to these. They just focussed on what they knew best and ignored everything else. They didn’t try and be something they weren’t.

This is a great lesson for us all as we all have a tendency to focus on our weaknesses instead of the things that make us great. We all compare ourselves to others and try and be like them. Greece proved that if you focus on yourself and don’t try and be something you’re not then success will come along.

3. Winning is a habit

Winning breeds winners. Success breeds success. This weekend Roger Federer won Wimbledon again, Schumacher triumphed in another Grand Prix and the New Zealand cricket team won again against England. All of these are examples of when you get in the winning habit you just can’t stop. Tim Henman hasn’t got it yet. The England team hasn’t either.

What does it mean for us? Well, keep taking action and finding success, however big or small. Consistent action will result in success and as you do this more and more it will become habit that you will not lose.

4. Sacrifice

Maria Sharapova showed the result of years of sacrifice. She left Russia with her father when she was only five to live in Florida. To pay for her to go to tennis school her father worked numerous jobs from waiting tables to digging holes. Maria’s mother could not move to the US until two years after Maria moved – imagine being away from your mum for two years when you are so young.

I do believe these sacrifices gave Maria the indestructible self belief and drive to succeed. Have Tim Henman or the English football team had to endure such sacrifice? I wonder if they have as much drive and determination.

Remember a certain little Czech girl called Martina? She defected from a Communist regime to move to the US leaving her family behind under the threat of death. Her focus when playing tennis was to get her family over to the US as quickly as possible.

What does this mean for us? Simply, get out of your comfort zone. Feel a little uneasy. Feel a little pain. Make some sacrifices.  This is the only way you will truly reach your goals and dreams. Until you do this and push yourself a little sweet success just will not arrive.

5. Hard work

It’s as simple as that. Plain hard graft will earn rewards. That’s what the Greek team did in every game they played. They just worked so hard. They ran their socks off. Sharapova did the same at Wimbledon; she chased every point and won against Serena Williams – the best player in the world by a long way. Everybody who has achieved anything has done it through hard work.

Hard work isn’t just working long hours and burning the candle at both ends. No, it’s about keeping going when the going gets tough. It’s about being resilient and focussing on the goal even through the toughest times. It’s about digging deep and just getting on with it.
Do you do this? Can you start tomorrow?

So if you want to be a winner you could learn from the last two weeks sporting action. Why don’t you decide today to adopt these five principles into your everyday life?