Champions

I do not play much sport these days.  I used to.  Growing up I played in teams in many sports played in Australia.  Tennis, Cricket, Squash, Hockey, Soccer, Aussie Rules, Rugby League and Table Tennis.
Although I do not play much now, I remain interested in a coaches’ philosophy.  Often what is successful for sport is a successful mantra for life.  I was reading in the latest James Clear email a quote by an American Football coach.  As the coach he led a team to victory three times in the Super Bowl.
His name was Bill Walsh and he said, "Champions behave like champions before they're champions; they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners."
I absolutely love that saying as I firmly adhere to the thought that winning is not just achieved when the game is played, but it is achieved in a person’s head and heart before play even begins.
It reminds me of the old saying “think you can, think you can’t – either way, you will be right.”  That is because winning to me is so much a head thing.  Oh I do not necessarily mean defeating an external opponent (let’s face it, sometimes they are just better than me).  But I always mean beating an internal opponent.
I know I need help to be the best I can be, and it actually seems that often my  strengths are more of a problem to me than my weaknesses.  By that I mean weaknesses I will always acknowledge I can do with all the help I can get.  Whereas strengths I am more likely to say, “I got this” and limit what humility could teach me.
So often it is used as a put down, but by the same token it is true in one way that “it’s all in their head.”  Defeat always begins in the head. To me a winner is not defined just by external victory but by internal victory.  So often people have lost before they start because of poor attitude.  They think defeat.  Think “I am not good enough.”  “I could never beat this person” - or a lack of a win is always someone else’s fault.
As I so often say it is incredibly important to me that being the best is not the result of defeating all comers.  It is defeating what is standing in the way of my going further than I have been before.  After all, “Champions behave like champions before they're champions.”