GET READY, GET SET

Winning in sports can teach you how to win in business

The same techniques that work in one area can work in the other. Before you compete you have got to get ready. How well you prepare has everything with whether or not you’ll win.  

“Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy.”
—Mike Ditka

 “Confidence comes from
being prepared.”
—John Wooden

The right preparation gives you a solid foundation
This is where you start to beat your competition. Without a foundation you won’t build anything, but the bigger and better the foundation the bigger the accomplishments you can reach. Doing this well begins the process of putting you in a position to meet any challenge.

The right preparation helps remove the guesswork from competing.
You are going to do all the things that create the confidence you're going to win. It’s going to keep you on an even keel so you can stay strong and on track whether you are winning or losing. If you do it right, things you run into during games are things that you have already dealt with in practice.

The right preparation gives you the advantage.
If you’re stronger team, it ensures you don’t lose to a weaker team. If you are the weaker team it evens the playing field and gives you the the best chance to upset a stronger, big shot team.

There always will be last minute things you can't control, but all of the things you can control are the ones you focus on during your preparation. Doing a great job on this moves the odds as much as possible in your favor and gives you the confidence you’ll need to play at your best.

“Everybody has the will to win,
what very few have is the will to prepare.”
—Bob Knight

Don’t cut corners on your preparation…
that’s how you position yourself to win

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Part 3 of 5 KEYS TO BEAT THE BIG SHOTS:

Part 1:
You Can Beat The Big Shots

Part 2:
John Wooden and Shoelaces 

WINNERS HAVE FAITH, LOSERS HAVE FEAR.

Life is full of surprises…and not all of them are “happy”

We never know what’s coming next. All of the horror, shock and terror in life isn’t confines to the scary movies at the theater. No matter how careful you are, no matter how hard you plan, you aren’t going to get through this life without going through rough times. 

And it scares you.
It overwhelms you. It’s a problem bigger than you, bigger than you’ve ever faced before. The enormity of the problem paralyzes you and that’s when fear grabs you.

• It might be you didn’t expect it, you weren’t prepared
• It might be something you never had to deal with before
• It’s usually in an area of your life where you are most vulnerable and defensive 
• It backs you into a corner and there’s no place else to go

Thank goodness for the God who loves you!
This the time to remind yourself there's no problem bigger than God. This is precisely the time to takes a deep breath and shift your focus from fear to faith in God. 

Jesus Himself is the one who gave that advice
We sure aren’t the only people in history who have had to deal with problems. In fact our ancestors probably are sitting back and laughing hysterically at us as we “suffer.” I’m sure they think we are all pathetically soft and have unbelievably pampered lives compared to what they dealt with. But when they were at the height of despair with situations in their lives they were overcome with fear just as we are today. 

Ecclesiastes says there's nothing new under the sun.
They had problems. We have problems. It’s not new, it’s called living and when Jesus was here he gave them the same advice he gives us… 

And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint. - Luke 18:1

Here is the point: Faith in Him is your answer.
You’ve tried handling things yourself and that isn’t working, so it’s time to bring in the Higher power, the heavy artillery. 

There's no problem that you faced that people haven't faced before. 

• It may be new to you, but it’s not new to God. 
• It may be overwhelming to you, but it’s not to God.

And so, you trust God …it’s the ONLY way to win
How else can you win? Who else can you trust? There are no more options and the sooner you realize and accept that the sooner you can relax and trust Him. No more being paralyzed by fear. No more being bullied by fear. Instead you find yourself energized you and releases you to get back on track. 

You now can win because you have gotten the loser, you, out of the way. 
Now God can go to work through you to do what he has planned all along for you to accomplish. These are the things that will give you the greatest possible joy, satisfaction and fulfillment. He knows what those things are better than you know, and you will realize that once it happens.

Until you trust Him he can’t take over the situation.
It’s like driving a car, there can only be one driver. He has given you free will, you have the choice…who will “drive your car?” Until you ask Him to take over there is nothing He can do to help you, no matter how much He loves you, without violating your free will. So He waits on us to decide. It’s up to us and it’s really unnecessary to wait until we are scared to death to do it. But for many, that’s what it takes.

Losers trust themselves and fail, Winners place their faith in the Lord and win…that’s exactly how it works!

SNAKES ARE SNEAKY: BAD PEOPLE

If you think bad things can’t happen to you…you’re naïve.

Anything that you read about happening, can happen to you. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter where you’re located. It doesn’t matter if it’s ever happened anywhere in your town or to anyone you know.

Your job is not to assume it won’t happen because it hasn’t happened before in your world.

It’s your job to make sure that you, your family or your company aren’t the first to be victimized. 

How do Leaders get in trouble?
They get lulled to sleep. They assume things will be done right all the time, because they’ve been done right the other 99 times. Warnings and red flags are ignored because they are so confident they are secure. 

Sometimes the “bad thing” is a person

In my last post, I urged you to give people a chance to show you who they really are, but remember, there is always the possibility that a person you trust, who you never would suspect, is just 'playing' you. They hang around, earning your respect and all the while looking for a way to steal what you have. They are deliberate, they are rotten and they will take what you have…IF YOU LET THEM. Of course, these people are cowards and prey upon the unsuspecting…so don’t be unsuspecting.

 

It’s your job not to give them a chance to steal

Hopefully you won’t deal with any fraud, embezzlement or theft from close employees or friends, but be aware that it happens. Keep up with your kids and who they associate with. Keep an eye on any adults who seem to get to big of a kick out of hanging around your kids. All you need to do is keep a close eye on things and not allow any loopholes for them to exploit. 

 

It’s simple…just make the decision that you are NOT going to ALLOW you and yours to be victims. 

There’s always going to be someone around who decides they would like to have some of your things. You don’t have an exemption that protects you from this. You don’t have to be paranoid and let it take over your life, but is it too much to at least take the “ounce of protection” to avoid the “pound of cure?” You are way ahead just by being aware.

There are no guarantees in the world. It’s up to you to keep a ring of protection around the people and the things that are important to you. 

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This is Part 2 of HOW TO PROTECT YOUR TEAM

Part 1: USE YOUR EAGLE EYE—SPOT DANGER

A Slump is Coming

Most first time Winners are so naïve.

They are so happy! They think their lives have changed forever. They think now that they have broken through, winning is going to become a way of life. Unfortunately they are headed into some troubled waters and most don’t see it coming.

As a result, they don’t know how to steer around them.

Here’s what they don’t see coming…

What goes up will come down—UNLESS you keep it from happening. Think Superbowl champs, World Series Winners, Oscar winners.

How many of them repeat?

That’s one thing that makes Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France 7 times so astounding! It's the thing that made Michael Jordan’s 6 Championships with the Chicago Bulls so amazing. And it’s also why Tiger Woods domination of professional golf captured the imagination of people who weren’t even golf fans.

It seems as if there is a huge gravitational pull that life puts on Champions pulling them back to the mediocre masses. Those that stay on top are the ones who go beyond talent and are driven enough to continue to pay the price required to Win.

Their drive elevates them. That kind of passion is very rare.

So if once is not enough for you and you want to keep on doing Great things, just be aware…

If you get a promotion
If you set a record
If you win a contest
If you have a great month

What probably is heading your way is a great big, unexpected SLUMP.

So act accordingly.  If you don’t want that to happen, do EVERYTHING in your power to keep it from happening, otherwise it will surely come. It may happen anyway in spite of your best efforts but if it does you will be able to turn things around a whole lot quicker.

Also your extra efforts will serve to tremendously limit how deep it the fall-off would have otherwise been.

The slump happens for a lot of reasons.

You assume you have things working and they will keep working just as well or even better. You forget the intensity that you put into your efforts to win the first time. You imagine and expect that all you have to do is keep on doing the same things and you will continue to grow even higher. You don’t plan for the unforeseen and inevitable new obstacles that always come up.

So Congratulations on your Win! But if you want it do it again, stay sharp and steer away from the slump that otherwise is certainly headed your way!