Champions of Life aren’t born. They’re built, one ordinary decision at a time. Whether you’re leading a team or just leading yourself, these ten habits are where it starts.
1. Smile
Happy people smile often, even if it’s that inner smile of gratitude. The more you smile, the better you feel about yourself, and science is finally confirming what we already knew. Share as many smiles as you can, with as many people as you can.
2. Make decisions
The more proactive you are about your life, the more alive you’ll feel. If you only make one or two decisions a day, they’ll weigh on you. Make dozens and you won’t notice when a few don’t pay off. Champions of Life have made more mistakes than anyone. They just kept going.
3. Make mistakes
Be willing to make a mess! People who aim to get everything right end up doing very little, because they see too much risk in action. Treat every mistake as feedback. Give up perfection: it’s so unachievable that it’s the same as having no standards at all.
4. Have more play
See your life and choices as play and you’ll experience them differently. Take everything too seriously and you’ll miss opportunities, because you’ll be too busy focusing on how things “should” be.
5. Be generous
The more value you give, the better you’ll feel. But there’s a difference between horse trading and generosity. Horse trading gives in order to get. Generosity just gives. Contributing beyond yourself is one sure-fire way to love your life.
6. Raise your standards
Life isn’t about “getting by” or “good enough”. It’s about giving your best, risking failure, playing at 100%, then doing it again tomorrow. And play at a higher level especially when the going gets tough. That’s where true champions play.
7. Challenge yourself every day
Never settle for “close enough”. Settling slowly erodes your results, then your confidence. Champions go the extra mile because they know it’s a pretty empty road.
8. Focus on what you can do
Champions focus on what they can control and influence, and leave the rest alone. Try it: make a ten-day commitment to focus only on what you can do each day, and see what happens.
9. Focus on your strengths
Write down your top twenty strengths. Write down what you’re learning and enjoying. People with low confidence focus on their weaknesses, then wonder why they feel down.
10. Be a leader
Be your own leader and your own Champion of Life. Be the person you admire most. Write down every day what you’re grateful for, what you’re creating and who you love. Extraordinary people are ordinary people making ordinary decisions, so be that person, and lead others through the example you set.
Want your whole team thinking like this?
The champion mindset is contagious, and so is the opposite. Let’s talk about building it into your team’s culture.