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?

If you are the owner of a business, then you have to sell your ideas to your employees or your board of directors.  If you are just an employee of an organization, then you must be able to sell your ideas to your boss, your company, or your clients.  It seems that in this life, no matter whether it is in business, relationships, or interacting with others, we need to be adept at selling our ideas to others.

It is not hard to master this skill but it takes practice.  The first and most important rule of thumb is to remember that one’s credibility and power to make the desired changes must be earned.  Here are some specific points to remember if we want to learn how to sell our ideas effectively to others:

1. We need to be absolutely sure that we have understood every aspect that is related to our proposal. If there are obstacles within your organization that hinders your idea, then you need to find a way around them before you make your suggestions.  This is so that when      the obstacles are raised, you can come up with a solution.
2. We need to also know who or what sections of our business that may be affected negatively by our idea. This is to help us find a way to modify it so that the organization can get all or most of the benefits without any parties getting hurt.
3. We also need to be aware of our own credibility.  Often, it is the presenter more than what is presented that is judged.
4. We must also limit the number of suggestions made.  This will increase your credibility if you have prioritized your ideas before trying to sell them.

In selling your ideas to others, make sure your role is that of a clear advocate.  It is essential that we gain the respect we need through hard work and dedication to our responsibilities.  We can also form alliances with others that are based on mutual respect and hard work.  Finally, we need to know exactly what we are proposing and all the implications of our idea.

The ability to sell your ideas to others is a valuable asset to your life and understanding how it is done is critical and ought to be mastered.  It does not matter whether you are dealing with your peers, your business, your children, or your significant other – your ability to sell your idea will be used, so make sure you hone this tool well.

Motivational experts get paid big bucks to tell working professionals why they need to stay motivated in order to strive for success. The question is how can we then motivate ourselves without having motivational experts to tell us what to do.

Here are some quick tips which would help one to stay motivated in their lives:

• Maintain a Positive Attitude – We need to realize that life is only 10% of what happens to us and 90% of how we react to it.  We are responsible for our own actions and attitudes, and changing them when there is a need to do so.  When we are with people/things that are uplifting and positive, we feel good and energised.  We need to have more confidence in ourselves and change whatever needs changing. If we can make our workplace a more uplifting and positive work environment, we will find happier workers and higher production. We might even find our employees look forward to coming to work!
• Create Positive Affirmations -  The reason for writing goals for your business is the same as creating positive affirmations on paper.  What your eyes can see and ears can hear, your mind will believe.  Do try it!  After you have written your goals or affirmations down, read them aloud to yourself – and do it every morning when you get into work.  You will be amazed at what happens.  Come up with a set of new ones every month.  Statements such as, “I’m an important and valuable person,” or “I know I can make good use of my time today.”  Repeating them out loud everyday at a set time will help reinforce positive actions.
• Make Sure Break Times Are Really Break Times -  This is an area where most bosses/entrepreneurs have trouble managing.  We always become anxious and concerned about the big project or situation we are working on.  We need regular break schedule so that the break helps us to release the tension in our work.  If we work on a computer this is even a greater problem because we may end up working in that same position for hours.  The best answer to this is to set a reminder on your appointment calendar for every 2 hours, and let the computer reminder chime send us the alert to move around.
• Exercise, Exercise, Exercise -     By “exercise” I do not mean that we should go out and join a gym and spend our lunch-time, 3-days-a-week there working out.  What is really beneficial and workable is that at those chiming alerts from your computer, we can get up and walk around our desk or room.  Maybe we can stop our work temporarily and go outside to enjoy some sunlight or just get up and do a few stretches.  Concentrated, tense thinking – typing – drafting plans – or whatever we work at, makes all our muscles tighten up and knot up.  Periodic stretching, even at our desk, or just getting up and walking over to the window and getting a different view can help.  There is nothing more relaxing than getting up from our desk and walking over to a peaceful, serene, seascape or pastoral painting and just watching it visually.  Momentarily transporting your mind out of work and into that place of relaxation does wonders.

It only takes a little concentrated effort on our part to keep motivated and productive, which can lead to more success

1. Establish the objective or goal – We need to define what we want to achieve. There must be clarity in terms of the end outcome that we want to achieve.

2. Agree on the process – We need to know how the final decision will be made in particular who are the stakeholders that would be involved in this process. Would be it a shared process or determined by one final individual?

3. Involve the right people – We need to ensure that we have consulted all the stakeholders even if the final decision is to be made by a single individual.

4. Allow opinions to be heard – We must encourage and allow the various stakeholders to contribute to the discussions, debates, and analysis without any fear of rejection from the group. This is one of the best ways to avoid groupthink. We must also recognize that the objective is to make the best decision under the existing circumstances and constraints. It is not about siding anyone to get a preferred decision being made or adopted.

5. Ask the right question – We need to ask questions to elicit what is really the true issue. The 5 Whys technique is a classic tool that can helps us identify the real underlying problem that we face.

6. Use innovation tools – The basis of creativity is to think from a different perspective. The use of innovation tool will allow us to practice divergent thinking and generate alternatives while we deal with the issue. This is particularly important since the generation of new ideas will help create new connections, break old thought patterns, and consider new perspectives.

The decisions can range from the very mundane and simple operational decision such as what corporate colour to match your namecards, which supplier do you use to complex and strategic decision for which candidate to hire for the marketing position or
which strategy to pursue.

The ability to make a good decision with the available information is a vital one. It would be easy if there is an ultimate decision-making formula you could use in any situation,
but the sad truth is there isn’t any. Each decision presents with itself its own unique set of challenges, and different individuals will have their own peculiar ways of processing
information, evaluate situations and make decisions.

If there isn’t any formula to good decision-making, what about avoiding making a bad decision? Or can we leave this to chance? Of course not! We need a systematic approach to decision-making so that no matter what type of decision we have to make, we can have the confidence that we are using an effective process to ensure the
decisions we make ends up with consistently, higher quality results. In this way, we can improve the quality of our decisions!

There are six steps to making an effective decision:

1. Create a constructive environment.
2. Generate sufficient options.
3. Review suggested options
4. Evaluate and select the best option.
5. Conduct reality check on your decision.
6. Communicate your decision.

Setting clearly defined short term and long term goals will enable you to measure your progress and achieve personal satisfaction once you have successfully met your goals. Charting your progress will also enable you to actually see the stages of completion leading to the actual realization of your goals. This eliminates the feeling of a long and pointless grind towards achieving your goal. Your self-confidence and level of competence will also improve as you will be more aware of your capabilities as you complete or achieve your business goals.

Goal setting will involve deciding what you really want to do and what short term and long term goals you need to achieve it. Then you have to break down these goals into the smaller and manageable targets that you must complete in order to achieving your business success. Once you have your list of targets to achieve, waste no time in tackling your goals.

A good way to have a manageable list is to have a daily and weekly set of goals. By doing this you will be always in the position of going towards your goals. Everyday will be an opportunity for you to fulfill a certain goal giving you the feeling of accomplishment.

Here are some pointers that should be taken into consideration in setting goals and achieving them.

Attitude plays a very big role in setting and achieving your business goals. You must ask yourself whether you have the right mindset or state of mind towards completing your simplest goals? What about your behaviour? Is there any part of your behavior that is a hindrance which would put your plans into disarray? If you do have problems in these areas then the immediate thing to do is to address this problem. Solutions may include a getting a business coach to help you.

Continual self improvement is also important in achieving your goals. If your goals require you to have a certain kind of knowledge or certain specialization or demand a certain skill to be developed, make plans in getting the appropriate education.

To start achieving your business goals, set a 5 year plan, then break it down to 1 year plans, then 6 month plans then monthly plans, then weekly, then daily.

Then create a things-to-do list for the day.

Always review your plans and prepare for contingencies.

Goal setting should not be so difficult once you get to be familiar with them. It is important that you master it so that you can achieve good success with your business plan.