I hate the word losers. It sounds like it is defining a person, but it is only defining an event that happens to a person—a person that sometimes wins. But, I am drawing a line here, and the word “loser” works.
What Others Will Not
Winners do the things that losers will not do. It’s not that winners are the only people capable of doing things. Really, anyone is capable. The people who routinely win behave this way.
Winners do the difficult tasks that losers avoid. They do the things that other people find to be too unpleasant to do. They make the phone call to the angry or disappointed customer. They follow-up and keep their word, even when keeping their word means giving people bad news.
They get up in the morning instead of hitting the snooze button. They do the important things they need to do instead of living in their inbox. And they take care of their physical health instead of sitting on the couch watching television.
Act Consistently
Winners know that sometimes isn’t a strategy. Instead, they focus on taking consistent action. Losers are sporadic; they do some things that need to be done only some of the time.
Winners consistently make their calls. They consistently follow a process that will produce the results they want. They consistently question what they are doing to see what improvements they might make to be even more effective.
Any single action they take by itself isn’t what allows them to succeed. It’s the consistency of action over long periods of time that build success.
Seek an Edge
Winners look for an edge. They look for some way to create a strategic advantage. Losers look for shortcuts, tips, tricks, and secrets.
Winners look for domain expertise and dominance. They don’t want to be one of the people considered for some project; they want to be the only one considered.
Winners read. They listen to audio books. They attend conferences to learn, and they attend workshops. Winners invest in themselves because they want to increase their advantage.
Losers want the same things as winners, but instead of working to create an advantage, they look for shortcuts, believing they can cheat the learning curve and still gain mastery.
Pay In Advance
Winners pay in advance for their success. Whatever the price is, they pay it.
The price that winners pay might be countless hours of hard work, grinding it out. That price might be giving up a lot of hours of things that bring them pleasure, like hanging out with friends, or watching hours of sports on television. But the winner knows that the investment comes before they generate results, never the other way around.
Losers, on the other hand, expect a handout. They believe time served means they deserve something better. They believe that they are owed something, that they are entitled to what they want.
Winners do what losers won’t, they act consistently, they seek an edge, and they pay in advance for what they want.
