Ten Traits Of A Winning Mindset

Yesterday, I shared a story to illustrate the power of having empowering and positive beliefs. Thinking of positive beliefs triggered a train of thought about what kind of mindset people with a winning attitude come with, in contrast to those with a mediocre mindset. 

I started listing out the differences in no particular order. I could think of ten ways people with a positive approach to life operate vis a vis those with a tendency to think negatively about everything.

Let’s call people with a Winning Mindset as WMs and those with a Mediocre Mindset as MMs. Here are ten ways how I see the WMs being different and superior to the MM’s.

1. WM’s are comfortable with the prospect of failing. They see failure as a painful but necessary part of the path to both personal and professional growth. MM’s, on the other hand, let the fear of failure get the better of them. They give up at the first sign of trouble and assume that they ARE failures.
2. WM’s recognize their limitations and weaknesses. They also know what they are very good at, and they focus on leveraging their core strength’s when it comes to pursuing any task. MM’s most times don’t know what their inherent strengths or weaknesses are. 
3. WM’s are happy taking others’ help in matters where they know they are weak and where the others are strong. MM’s operate in their own cocoon from a position of ego and don’t understand the value of taking the help.
4. WM’s are continually seeking feedback about how to improve and don’t worry about criticism. MM’s tend to be insular and take feedback or criticism personally.  
5. WM’s take responsibility and accountability. They come with the confidence that they are competent and capable of figuring out the solutions to challenges. MM’s tend to play the victim card, blaming others and circumstances. 
6. WM’s always have an eye on the big picture focus on optimizing the outcome. What is the best I can get out of a given situation? MM’s, on the other hand, are always in a game of being right. 
7. WM’s intuitively know that their growth and success is in the growth and success of others around them. They lift themselves by lifting others around them. They are generous and contribute to the development of others. MM’s are self-focussed and obsess about their own situation. They view everything from the standpoint of “how does this help me?”
8. WM’s are comfortable having challenging conversations. They are ok if someone challenges them or disagrees with them, or shows them being wrong. MM’s operate from a position of ego and see disagreements are as a personal threat. 
9. WM’s are future-focused. They are constantly striving to adapt, learn and grow. They embrace change and are comfortable with ambiguity. MM’s are past focussed. They tend to obsess about what happened in the past and how things were. They think in absolutes and demand certainty. 
10. WM’s understand that they have to demonstrate capability and results consistently to be eligible for any fast track growth. They give first and expect later. MM’s, on the other hand, come from a position of feeling entitled. They expect first, and if they don’t get what they want, they will make that a reason to not deliver.

There will be many situations where we show up with a Winning Mindset. Equally, there are many situations where unconsciously, we adopt a Mediocre Mindset. Knowing how our Mediocre Mindset manifests will help us eliminate mental blind spots and put us on a path to excellence.