There are some people who seem to breeze through life, rejoicing from one triumph to the next. By contrast, there are others who never quite make it, and always have a reason why life has dealt them a hard blow. Society is made up of victors and victims, and the difference can very often be boiled down to one key factor – attitude.
It’s essential when moving into a new career direction to adopt the habits of the victor to achieve the right outcome. Victims attempt actions over-cautiously, hoping for good things, but never really feeling they’re worthy of great things. The victors mentally commit to a successful outcome, and support their actions with emotion.
Take a couple of tennis players about to play a championship game. One says “It’s my last chance – I’ll give it my best efforts,” but the other one says “Winning is my destiny – it’s everything to me.” No prizes for guessing who’ll win the championship. They might both put in the same amount of time, but the victor spends more of it on his mental training to win.
The victor is defined by the word OAR – a figure paddling towards success. The victim is defined by the word BED – one who stays in bed and gives up. OAR = Ownership, Accountability and Responsibility. BED = Blame, Excuses and Denial.
The victor takes ownership of his or her tasks, not expecting someone else to lead the way. He’s accountable for his actions, and so takes them seriously, seeing things through by tackling problems not creating them. He’s responsible for the results of his actions, and so doesn’t take excuses from himself.
The victim can always come up with a reason for not achieving, and it’s rarely to do with himself. Everything is always somebody else’s fault – he doesn’t feel in control so puts the blame at someone else’s door. He gives excuses for his lack of performance, and doesn’t realise the only person he’s convincing is himself. After repeating this pattern of blame and excuses for a while, the victim is in denial, absolutely convinced that there’s nothing he can do about this situation.
Students approaching a life-changing training program need to give themselves a mental work-out, to stack the odds in their favour. Anyone who’s a fully paid up member of the victim society will have to address their issues before they start, to truly embrace the potential in front of them.
Both sets of attitudes are just habits, and with constant repetition, habits can be changed. Listen to the voice inside your head – if it sounds like a victim, then stop it and verbalise why you can achieve. No one is any better than you – some have just fought their demons and emerged victorious.
As Churchill said, “There is no such thing as a hero, only those who rise to the occasion.” In learning as in life, we need to have the attitude of a winner in order to become a winner.
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