In life, most people tend to focus on results I reckon because
of how high perceived results scream. It can be perceived as a “bottom line”
regarding what really matters, though personally I’m more interested in the
process than the result.
But still, results are a pretty good indication of a number
of things and a useful measure. They’re good indication of how relentless you've
been in pursuing something, of how you worked through feedback from the world on
your craft, and an indication of how long you've been or are willing to fight
for.
These labels though, can be grossly misinterpreted and
perceptions play a big role, so it’s beneficial to think wider about what
winning and losing means and implications of applying those labels.
What I’d like you to understand about results, is that "just
because you lost doesn't make you a loser and just because you won it doesn't
make you a winner, but know that winners win and losers lose." Eric Thomas
At first those statements may look like they're contradicting each other,
but I don’t believe they do they just deal with different aspects of results so
let’s look at both parts in more detail.
Just because you lost doesn't make you a loser, because
there’s no growth without struggle. Losing is an essential part of life if you’re
to build yourself to be resilient and work on feedback from the world around
you. Losing just means you've got work to do, you've got gaps and that should
drive you to identify and address them. No victim mentality, own your losses or
they’ll own you.
Just because you won doesn't make you a winner, because
everyone gets lucky sometimes or you may not be setting the bar high enough. A
sense of accomplishment is important and a real internal driver, but know there
are layers to winning and don’t ever lie to yourself. You can be the best of
the good, the great or the phenomenal but know all those are different things.
They’re not the same, so don’t treat them the same and always know where you
are, always tell yourself the truth of where you really are and who you really
are. Don’t pat yourself on the back too much. It achieves nothing for you.
Finally, winners win and losers lose. This statement is not
about events or situations, but about culture. And this culture can affect you
in many ways, from your house, your school or your group of friends. If you
convince yourself you’re a winner or a loser, it will dictate how you approach
situations and hardships in your life and is usually the difference between the
culture of identifying a problem and working tirelessly until you overcome it
(how winning is done) or use it as excuses to stop forward motion and get
comfortable with mediocrity and averageness (how losing is done).
So Rafael, what I’d like you to take out of this is that
being a winner or a loser is a choice and that hard work is the ultimate
gateway to winning because it focuses on the process (which is repeatable) and
process builds culture, which leads to sustaining results. Losing is also a
choice, and stems from finger pointing and not owning your own problems because
it focuses on why you couldn't or wouldn't do something and blaming others,
which also builds culture.
So, take life as it happens, avoid interpreting momentary
setbacks and situations as contributions to your perception of who you are in
the winner-loser scale and ensure you create a culture of winning in everything
you do. Not just for you, but for those you love and will one day depend on you
too.
