Create That Winning Feeling
by Bob Proctor
Having a winning feeling is prerequisite to achieving outstanding results. A person can’t possibly expect to win if they’re constantly focusing on failure. The real secret here is to capture that winning feeling ofsuccess as often as you can to create the environment necessary to succeed.
If you’ve been a little down in the dumps, feeling insecure or perhaps not feeling as confident in your ability as you’d like, I have a great tip for you. Start capitalizing on short-term victories. That means specifically focus on tasks you can achieve daily. Start with an adversity over which you can succeed and gradually take on more difficult tasks. Nothing succeeds like success.
Another technique in developing a winning feeling is what we call the reflection method. Think back during a time where you were really successful at something. It could have been a sale, a particular speech, a school play or standing up to the town bully. Each one of us can reflect back on a moment in time to recapture that winning feeling.
Years ago, a good friend of mine left a company he had worked for many years to start his own business. I told him he could use our offices until he was ready to open up his own office.
I happened to be in the office one afternoon and Grant, who normally was very upbeat and positive, was really having a difficult time. After a few moments of small talk, it became apparent what the problem was. Grant had hit the terror barrier and the possibility of starting his own company was overwhelming him; he just didn’t think he could do it. Here’s a man who had risen to the top of his field, made a high six-figure income for years and yet was still having doubts as to his ability to start his own company.
I asked Grant to go home, get a notebook and start to write down all of his accomplishments as far back as he could remember. The look on his face was priceless—I’m sure he thought I’d lost my mind. I told him that the accomplishment could be small or large; it didn’t really matter. The point was to focus on something positive. I still remember him asking, “Well, what if I only fill half a page?” I just smiled and asked him to do his best and start writing.
Monday morning came and Grant was back in the office with a notebook full of accomplishments. I smiled and said, “You must have been fairly confident, you picked up a good sized notebook!” We both had a good laugh. Grant went on to build a multi-million dollar financial planning company and later franchised the operation to extend across Canada and the U.S.
This is a great exercise for anyone needing a bit of a boost. What would give you a winning feeling of pride and satisfaction? Remember, a winning feeling is a confident feeling and one that forgets misses and reinforces successful attempts.
