Think Win-Win To Succeed

When it comes to succeeding in life, there are three basics mindsets that people tend to have. These 3 basic mindsets are:

1. The win/lose mentality,
2. The lose/lose mentality and
3. The win/win mentality.

People with a win/lose mentality are usually the super competitive type, not willing to be taken disadvantaged of and always comparing themselves to other people all the time. They believe that in order for them to succeed in life, others must fail. To them, success is relative.

As for people with a lose/lose mentality, they have a strong belief that they can never achieve anything worthwhile in life, so why should they let someone like you do so. Very often, they are also pessimistic and negative in their outlook. For such people, it would be pointless to tell them that you have great plans for your life and wish them success. They will only criticize you and tell you it cannot be done. After all, they had tried that already and it did not work!

People who are achievers in life have the win/win mentality. Not only are they are confident about their capability and their chances of success, they also realise that their success does not depend on other people’s failure. To the contrary, their success at times depends on other people’s success.

Cultivating the Win-Win mindset

Stephen R. Covey, in discussing this subject states: “Win/win is based on the paradigm that there is plenty for everybody, that one person’s success is not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others…It’s not your way or my way; it’s a better way, a higher way.”

If you are to succeed in life and become the person you are meant to be, then you must know that you will not get there alone. You need others to get there just like conquering a mountain. You need a team of climbers and supporting team members to help you journey this road to the highest peak – success at the top!

Therefore, we must learn to think of win/win and cultivate a mindset of mutual benefit if we want to achieve greater success in life. Helping others to succeed in life in turn will allow us to receive help from others when we need it most to succeed. It is often said that the greatest people are always those that help others.

We must also learn to be happy and celebrate others’ success while we look forward to our own success. We need not judge ourselves based on what others have achieved, but rather based on what we want to achieve.

Life is not a race against other people. It is a one man race. You determine the destination, the route, the time limits and the prize. We are all running a different race. How do you compete with someone that is not on the same track as you are?

There are certain pitfalls in this journey towards success. We must always be weary of and guard ourselves against undesirable habits such as envy and jealousy. Like other bad habits, envy and jealousy will only rob you of your energy, creativity, drive, clarity of mind and enthusiasm for life.

The Win/Win mindset – conclusion

We need not “Keep up with the Joneses”. We can choose a higher way as Stephen Covey says. It is a way where we and others both win. This is a mindset of abundance – willing to share with others and ensuring everyone is a winner.

What will be your choice?