5 Qualities of Winners

To be a winner in any aspect of life, you need a combination of natural abilities and mental skills. Both types of skills should be developed and perfected.

We can learn a lot about winning from athletes. All top athletes have natural physical abilities, but they also share mental qualities that give them the drive and toughness to be winners in their sporting arena. These traits are relevant in other areas as well, such as in the workplace, artistic development, and even personal relationships.

Here are the five most important mental skills of winners — athletic and otherwise. Anyone who wants to make a difference and be successful must work to develop them.

5 traits of winners

1 – Positive attitude

Staying positive is a key to success. This includes believing in yourself. To paraphrase the famous quote by Henry Ford: “ Whether you think you can or if you think you cannot, either way you’ll always be right.”

Your belief system is everything because it is related to the type of results you will achieve.

In this sense, self-efficacy, which is essentially the confidence you have in your ability to achieve your goals, is a key factor when it comes to organizing and executing tasks. People with a greater sense of self-efficacy are more committed to their goals and are less likely to give up.

That’s why you have to do everything necessary to develop confidence in yourself and stay positive. The particular challenge isn’t necessarily important. What matters is that you develop a positive approach to facing your challenges.

2 – High, but achievable, goals

A positive attitude and a strong sense of self-efficacy lead you to believe that you can achieve goals that may seem a bit out of reach. These goals should be set outside of your comfort zone and should push you to reach beyond what you’ve accomplished thus far. However, they should not be so great that they seem impossible to achieve.

The key is to set goals that are achievable, so you can savor the victory and enjoy success within a reasonable period of time. This makes it motivating enough for you to take it another step further. Setting goals is the key to achieving them.

3 – Motivation

Motivation is the factor that will help you achieve your goals. Motivation is the driving force of determination.

There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation refers to the desire to reach a goal for personal gain, regardless of the reward. Extrinsic motivation refers to the struggle for an objective in order to achieve an external reward. High levels of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are the keys to winning.

There are many techniques to help you stay motivated which include rewarding yourself for small achievements, remembering the reasons that pushed us to move toward our goal and keeping a mental picture of the final result, to name a few.

4 – Emotional mastery

Winners know how to keep their focus sharp and not let their emotions get the best of them. They are aware of themselves, and this is key. When we are aware of our emotions, they do not wreak havoc on us. A key mental skill is the ability to stay calm, even under pressure.

5 – Persistence

Napoleon Hill in his famous book Think and Grow Rich writes extensively about the importance of persistence, especially when facing defeat. And, as noted by the author, failure is an inevitable step to success.

In the words of Truman Capote: “Every failure is the condiment that give success its flavor.”  Winners do not give up, and their persistence and perseverance is one of their most important abilities.

Winner’s spirit

Winning is not just about earning a medal or title, getting the best job, or being the most sought after guy or girl at the moment. Winning is an attitude, and we are each our own rivals. You’ll be a winner if you manage to surpass yourself, find your goals and your place in the world.

There will be times when you have to bring out the champion in you and prove to yourself, metaphorically speaking (or not) that no one can take you off track. You may not come in first, but even if you you come in last you have taken a step closer to success.

But above all, you will have won the battle against fear, laziness and everything that weighs you down.

Needless to say that playing sports is an excellent way to learn how to win, to better yourself and learn to face failures in a constructive way at any age.