It’s a Mindset: Training Your Brain to Win

Fresh off the Cleveland Cavs’ 2016 NBA Championship, Jeff Van Fleet, Lighthouse’s President and CEO, is thinking about what it takes to win.  In short, it’s not just having determination; it’s having the right frame of mind as well.

Sharpening the Saw: Getting in a Winning Mindset

What does it take to win?   I think most everyone would say you have to have a winning mindset and attitude.
You MUST believe you can win.  You can’t go into “the battle” worried that you might lose or thinking about all the ways it can happen.  Instead, you have to approach it by looking at all the ways you can win.

I hope this note finds you well and excited about summer…and the Cleveland Cavs’ improbable championship!  Congratulations to Lebron and the entire Cavs organization for finally bringing the title home to Cleveland with a legendary performance.

Given that Game 7 of the NBA Finals was two nights ago, and the Cavs became the first team in history to come from a 3-1 deficit to win the championship, I’m thinking about winning.

What does it take to win?  What does it really take?  I think most everyone would say that in order to win, you have to have a winning mindset and attitude.  You MUST believe you can win.  You can’t go into “the battle” worried that you might lose or thinking about all the ways it can happen.  Instead, you have to approach it by looking at all the ways you can win.  It’s a mindset.

At the same time, you must have confidence that you prepared yourself to win.  The key here is that confidence has to be real.  You can’t kid yourself if you knew you slacked off in your preparation.  It has to be genuine, at-the-root-of-your-gut confidence because you KNOW you prepared.  It’s a mindset.

There’s nothing guaranteed.  When things get tough (and they often do), you still need to keep looking for ways to win.  You still need to believe it’s possible.  As soon as you cross that tipping point to the “maybes” or the “hopes”, you can rest assured you will not win.  In the toughest of moments, it’s still a mindset.

And if for some reason you don’t win, how do you respond?  Do you blame the refs, the politicians, the system, the “Man”?  Are you a victim, or do you own it?  Once the dust settles, can you look yourself in the mirror and still be proud that you gave it your all?  That’s accountability — it’s part of that mindset too.

Now ask yourself: are you prepared to win?  Do you believe in yourself because you’re confident in your work ethic?  Take a look at your work, your relationships, your athletics, and your belief in yourself.  Where do you want to win?  Are you willing to put in the hard work — and the mental work — to win?

Let me know what you think about this topic.  I’d like to know if this resonated with you, and I’d like to hear about your approach to winning.  As always, if I can do anything to help you on your journey, please reach out.

Keep having fun,

Jeff Van Fleet
President & CEO
Lighthouse Technologies, Inc.
Software Testing | Quality Assurance Consulting | Oracle EBS Consulting

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