Sometimes You win, sometimes you (lose) learn

John C Maxwell

Life is about learning, and about using those lessons to become a better employee, employer, better parent, better sibling, better friend.

I have tried every day to learn something new, to gain a new perspective. That way of thinking is what keeps a min young, optimistic and joyful.

The lessons we learn from school help us face the real world outside the classroom walls. In a sense learning starts after college.

While people are usually ready to talk about their dreams, they are not well prepared to answer a question about their shortcomings.

Successful people approach losing differently. They don’t try to brush failure under the rug.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you ( lose) but learn from it.

Les Brown said “ the good times we put in our pocket, the bad times we put in our heart”

The quality that distinguishes a successful person from an unsuccessful one is in the capacity to manage disappointment and loss. This is a challenge because losses can defeat us mentally.

When we win, we gain confidence. The more confidence we have, the more action we take. The inclination to move from knowing to doing often brings success.

‘If you say that the morale of your team is good after losing ten out of twelve games, then your intelligence is a little low.’ – Paul Richards, Football manager

Learning is not easy during tough times because it requires us to do things that are not natural.

Pride goes before a fall. Pride is about who is right, Humility is about what is right – Ezra Taft Benton

Negative impact of pride on behavior of an individual – blame, denial, closed mindedness, rigidity, insecurity and isolation. Such people are poor team players

People with a lot of talent often perform at the highest level, but the really best of the best –achieve the highest heights because they possess the spirit of learning.

Ken Blanchard said – Humility does not mean you think less of yourself, it means you think of yourself less.

Humility opens our eyes and broadens our view. Because we aren’t focused on justifying ourselves or looking good, we have better judgment.

Humility fosters an agenda of seeing things the way they are, of learning and the desire to improve.

When we lose sight of reality, we lose our way quickly. You cannot improve yourself if you are kidding yourself.

Life is difficult- somehow people seem to believe that life is supposed to be easy.

Some people never make an intentional effort to grow, some think they will grow automatically just by attending meetings and sitting at their desk.

One of the most striking things that separate successful people from those who aren’t is the way they think.

People who get ahead think differently and are constantly thinking of improving their skill set.

Most people spend their entire lives on a fantasy island called ‘someday I’ll’They don’t live in the world of reality and are always postponing what they need to do today.

Lying to yourself is a hard habit to break.People who don’t take responsibility get into ‘blamestorming’

Real success is a journey. We have to hang in there, stay focused, and keep moving forward.Excuses are like exits along the success road, those exits lead nowhere.

If you are willing to put your name on everything you do, that’s a high level of integrity.

We live in a society with destination disease. Too many people want to do the minimum to ‘arrive’ and then ‘retire’

Losers don’t lose because they focus on losing, they lose because they focus on getting by.

Improving everyday requires intention and contemplation.

When people sense victory When people sense defeat

They sacrifice to succeed They give as little as possible

They look for ways to win They look for excuses

They become energized They become tired

They follow the game plan They forsake the game plan

They help other team members They hurt others

People with a teachable spirit approach each day as an opportunity for another learning experience. They know that success has less to do with natural talent and more to do with choosing to learn.

Being teachable depends on two things- capacity and attitude. While capacity could be fixed, our attitude can change.

Winning via learning

• Everyone has something to teach me• Everyday I have something to learn• Every time I learn something, I benefit

How do we become more teachable?PreparationContemplationApplication

Adversity is a better teacher than success if we want to learn.

Many problems go unresolved or are managed ineffectively because we do not take them seriously enough.

When looking at problems, always split position clearly to say – here is what I will do and here is what I need you to do for us.

Why people resist change

• Change can feel like a personal loss• Change feels awkward• Change goes against tradition

People change when prompted with

• They hurt enough, they have to• They learn enough, they have to• They receive enough, they have to

One of life’s important question is ‘who am I”. But even more important is ‘ who am I becoming? ’Most people don’t answer the second question as they turn to the path of cynicism, dishonesty and getting by.

Successful people do two things that many other people don’t. They initiate action and they finish what they start.As a result, they form the habit of doing things that unsuccessful people don’t.

Maturity is the result of feeding the right emotions at the right time, anger, calm, encouragement, push back etc. Maturity is the result of developing good habits. Maturity is the result of sacrificing today to succeed tomorrow.

Learning decreases as winning increases.Bill gates said” Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think they can’t lose. It also makes them think they don’t need to learn”

Learning is only possible when our thinking changes.

How we think when we lose determines how long it will take for us to win again. The right kind of thinking is to remain positive.