Life Champion – By Steve Jones
Winning traits you need to know!
Feature Article in the latest edition of Natural Bodz Magazine by Editor Steve Jones
Successful people understand that failure is not permanent, it’s a minor glitch in the cycle of life!
The winner takes all, win at all costs, winners are grinners. I am sure you have either heard or read these quotes at some stage in your life. We all love to win; it’s programmed into us from early childhood, when we use to play board games with our family and friends, when we took part in sporting events in high school. In the academic world we aim to have the highest grades in the class, or achieve the highest accolades in our chosen field. In the fitness industry we want to become the best and take home that winner’s trophy. However, what is the true definition of a winner and what are the common traits that all winners, or we could say successful people have in common.
Over the last 30 something years I have had the opportunity to meet and observe a lot of people, I have owned and operated 3 gyms across the globe, competed in over 100 bodybuilding events, met a host of business owners through my creation of my own supplement brand. I am a big believer in observing the actions of others and taking this information and using it to shape my future and helping others. This article is the first part of a self development series.
Are there winners and losers, or successes and failures? As cruel as it may sound the answer is yes. But it’s not all bad. One can’t exist without the other, and neither is permanent. How we perceive success and failure, or winning and losing is the most important factor in life, or I should say living a life of inner peace and harmony.
I am not going to go off on some kind of self-help cult like
believe in yourself pitch as we have heard all that before. Some people pay thousands of dollars to be told that their mind is broken and needs fixing and going to one of these guru worship “I can do anything” seminars is going to solve all their imaginary problems. For starters I want to share some points with you that will change the way you think and feel about both success and failure.
You are not broken
First off, stop feeling sorry for yourself. You are not broken, the only thing that needs fixing is the way you perceive. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, no matter who they are. You are unique and have everything within you to succeed. All you need to do is learn to accept and learn from “everything” that happens to you in life. And I mean everything. Because everything takes us closer to where we want to be, but only if we learn from it. In fact our biggest lessons come from our failures not our successes. So success can’t exist without failure, winning can’t exist without losing. So just because you have not won right now does not mean you can’t win in the future. The world and life itself is a cycle. So let go of the thought that you are broken in any shape or form.
Accepting duality in life
Things happen, that’s a given in life. Some good, some bad and this is never going to change. You have to drop the thought that life is all wine and roses. It’s not and never will be. The Chinese have had this covered for thousands of years with the Yin and Yang. You know that black and white symbol that many think is just emulating the male and female side of humans. Not so.
According to yin yang philosophy, the universe and everything in it are both constant and cyclical. In this infinite cycle, one force dominates and is then replaced by the opposing force.
Examples illustrating the yin yang philosophy include:
Life and death
Heaven and earth
Night and day
Dark and light
Health and sickness
Poverty and wealth
Success and Failure
Cold and hot
Positive and negative
Yin and yang are complementary (rather than opposing) forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts. Hence you can see that success can’t exist without failure! And failure can’t exist without success. Winning can’t exist without losing. Is this starting to make a lot more sense to you now? Winners/successful people all have a clear understanding of this. They know that failure is not permanent; it’s a temporary glitch in their life cycle.
I will share a little personal story; I have competed in over 100 bodybuilding events in my life. Yes I started competing at the age of 13 as a teenager. Did I win every show? No way. I got placed or often did not even make the top 3 in many shows I entered. However, I learned more from the shows I lost than the ones I won! Why? Because I took the time to analyze and review why I win or place. Where is the times I won, I just ended up basking in the glory and didn’t think about anything else.
I feel sad for many competitors these days because they struggle with failure. When they don’t win, it kills them mentally. Why, because they don’t understand duality in life. Success and failure are one, and one can’t exist without the other. Just like night and day, hot and cold, positive and negative.
Instead many choose the blame game, oh it must have been the judges, or politics or some other obscure reason created in their mind. This is extremely sad because this type of mindset never truly realizes success, and will always be tormented and never at peace.
So the first step in unleashing the winners mind set is accepting the duality of life. Success and failure are not permanent, you will win some, lose some. But more importantly you learn from it all and move forward. And on the topic of moving forward lets jump to the next important trait.
To read Steves’s full article purchase the latest edition of Australian Natural Bodz Magazine Click here
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