“……If you think you can, you are right. But if you think” you cannot, you are still right!
At almost every point in time, each and every human being is up to something that they hold in high esteem. That one thing which would bring fulfilment and joy to the individual and loved ones around him or her. Therefore everybody wants to succeed in a way or another, at something they do. However, much as all of us would have loved to succeed, only but a few do actually reach these achievements. Personally, I ascribe this situation to certain things that we should not do but we do, and others which we should be doing but we find ourselves not doing them. In a bit, this paper is going to expose you to the path to tow, if you indeed strive to be a winner. It is going to challenge your thinking and your attitude towards various activities and power you to perhaps, take a second look at you own picture.
For me, a winner is a person who performs an activity or goes through a situation and comes out of it successful and who has a positive mindset to succeed in whatever it is that he or she engages in. From the definition outlined above, it is noteworthy that in order for one to succeed, he or she must first of all perform the activity. This means that you cannot sit idle and hope that success will come your way. You have to put yourself to work towards a particular target and this would actually mark your first step towards success. Second, the winner approaches his dreams and aspirations with a positive mind. Look, you have got to first of all, believe in yourself beyond doubt if you ever wish to have people support your vision. A positive mind precedes great achievement. Before you set your idea into motion make sure that you have done feasibility studies and there is a high predictability that your efforts would see the light of day. This positive mindset would give you a better picture of the situation just when you begin to encounter difficulties along the line, because you know it is only temporal. I tell you what, success begins in the mind. If you can think it, you can be it. This brings us to the bigger question of “WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO WIN?” There’s a thousand and one reasons you cannot afford to be a loser. I‘m going to discuss a few shortly.
? Because God wants you to
Believe you me it is the desire of God that every one of us will succeed in this life and he has accordingly given everybody a key to unlock his or her potential. If indeed God made all things in the earth and gave man power over them (and I know my bible cannot lie), Why then would you write an exam and fail if indeed God has given you power over all these things? You have no excuse. Therefore do not come to this world and go back empty, lest you waste all what God has deposited in you which could have been given to someone else.
? Because failure is not pleasant
Cast your mind back to the last time you failed in an exam or your business went down or you performed poorly with a presentation. I’m sure the feeling was very much bitter and made you feel worthless. On the contrary, winning is associated with a positive feelings such as elation, self-worth and prestige, which ultimate are all good for your psychological wellbeing. What am I trying to say? All I am saying is that I wonder why you would want to bypass success and rather opt for failure in spite of all the benefits you stand to gain. Think about it!
? You need to set a standard
Look, the bane of development in Africa in my view, is mediocrity. Most people from our race are very quick to become comfortable with petty achievements. We hardly strive to become more than we already are. For most Africans it is about getting to that point where you are making enough money to take care of yourself and your loved ones. Ones we get that, then the struggle is over. But this is wrong. You need to continually set targets for yourself, break them and set new standards and break them again. This is what real winners do. They do not settle for less. I know that you are the only person who holds a masters degree among all your mother’s children. But what stops you from going on to attain a Ph.D.?

? Life is difficult even for winners. What then happens if you fail….
It is a global trend that things are steadily becoming more difficult by each passing second of the minute. University entry is becoming more competitive, job placement is becoming more cumbersome and business are becoming more sophisticated. Therefore if those that are making strides in these various areas attest to the fact that it is difficult for them, then those who want to lose better find themselves a comfortable place underneath the earth, because the heat here is going to be just too much for them.
Let’s take a quick look at the winner against the loser
? The winning mind strives for high goals while the loser settles for less
A winner does not settle for small goals in life. Rather they aim at achieving great things that they can count as achievements. This person is neither afraid nor lazy to invest hard work.
They understand the principle that achieving high goals means putting in quality work and they do all that they are supposed to do in order to attain this set goal. Therefore you must not just aim at passing the examinations, but rather set a particular grade that you are aiming to get. This would help in your studies and helps you to see whether or not you are doing the right thing. The loser on the other hand is ‘cool’ with almost anything.
? The winner strives to be perfect while the loser does things anyhow
Yes. As human beings, we are not perfect. But at least we have the potential to do things near perfect. This is where the winner sets himself apart from the loser. The winning mind always puts in their maximum best to make sure that even if they do not get the highest results, they can get something close to the highest. They do not settle for less and they keep on polishing the skills and abilities until the final result they expect is gotten. Therefore, as a winner, you must keep on polishing what you have studied in order to make sure that you are knowledgeable enough to make very good grades. In your business too, make sure you are always abreast with new trends and don’t stick to old ways. Else the consequence would be so dire for you.
? The winner continues the struggle till he achieves good results while the loser is quick to give up
Most times when we are doing something great that we believe in, many challenges do come our way which threaten our ability to succeed in what we are doing. The thing is that, the winner does not easily give up no matter how difficult things get. He or she is always ready to go on until the end. He understands the fact that good things in life do not come easily and therefore in order to get something good, you may first have to endure hardship.
? The winner has a definitive can-do mentality, While the loser doubts his abilities
it is not a bad thing to sometimes be faced with a challenge where you ask yourself whether you can actually do it. This is fine. But the moment you begin to discourage yourself and start assuming that the task ahead of you is too big, then you are behaving like a loser and trust me, you are definitely going to lose if you think like that. The bible says that God does not b ring our way, tests that we are not up to. Therefore whatever comes your way in this life, it is because you have the power to overcome it. Therefore believe in yourself and you will be shocked at the things you can do.
? The winner finds pleasure in doing the hard things that the loser would not do.
We all would be happy if we could make aggregate six in the upcoming examinations. But most of us are not ready to put in the sort of results that brings about aggregate six results.
It is not easy to sit for long hours studying what has been taught and doing more research on your own. But this is what would give you the kind of results you want. Therefore, you must develop interest in doing the difficult things that losers would not do and make these things your habit. When you do this I bet, you would succeed at everything that you place your hands on in this life.

Therefore…
? Develop a positive mindset today
Get rid of all those doubts on your mind and believe that you can make it.
Indeed it might appear difficult, but it is also very possible. The reason you got that scholarship, got that job ot won that contract is because you are up to any challenge. You then cannot afford think disbelieve in yourself as that comes with a lot of consequences which could ultimately affect you negatively. Therefore you must overcome the circumstances to prove that you did not come all the way to this level for nothing.
? Put in a lot more effort
To have done something and succeeded means that you could equally have failed. In view of this, if you want people to note your achievements as worth celebrating, then you must be ready to put in extraordinary efforts, because old ways would never open new doors (this statement is not in biblical terms). Dare to be different. According to Vince Lombardi, ‘winning means you are willing to go longer, work harder and give more than anyone else’. Guess what? I agree totally.



? Do positive self-talk
Sometimes you really want to succeed but you find yourself in situations where you will feel like giving up. This is where positive-self talk comes in. talk to yourself and remind yourself of the goals that you have set for yourself and why it is so important to achieve these goals.
Be sure to remind yourself of how far you have come and why you cannot afford to give up yet.
This would encourage you to keep putting in your best till you have no competitor.

? Keep a distance from people who do not believe in your goals.
The truth is that you are not the first person to dream of becoming a business magnate, a first class student or a first line employee of that company. Others set out on that journey long before you thought of it. Therefore this is no time for you to associate with friends who have the potential to draw you back. Identify other people who believe in your potential and are genuinely motivated to see you succeed. These are the people you can share ideas with. If you are a lion, then I am yet to understand why you roll in the circle of sheep.
My dear friends, many are those who have repeatedly failed at the task you are embarking on right now and have failed. It is actually okay to fail sometimes. But you must not accept that situation as permanent. You have to persevere. Think and act like a winner. If you took your time to read this publication and did not some points, then you have no reason to fail if you back it all up with hard work and prayer. Now, go, fight and win!
Nathan Qarboo Tetteh (Motivational Speaker/ Life Coach) +233244903748 gracyboonathan@gmail.com
Twitter: @qarboo