Team You: Willing Yourself To Succeed
Is your team targeted to win?
Most people sell themselves short. They do everything they think is right, but still find themselves coming up short when it comes to being where they want to be in life. The problem is that we often fail to realize that winning is not the product of an external force but the consequence of an internal disposition. With a positive mindset you can transform your team from any sad streak to a glad streak. By this we mean that with the right focus you can turn TEAM YOU into a winner, so let positive words help you to gain the right focus.
Team You is a valuable philosophy that will allow you to assess your strengths and weakness and determine if you are ready to be a winner. The legendary football coach Vince Lombardi was a master of positive self-talk. He knew that if he reinforced certain messages with positive words, both he and his players would always be ready to handle the competition. One of his most oft-quoted phrases says that “confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.”
Think about that as you examine your own level of confidence. Do you have a positive attitude even when the people or things around you don’t seem so positive? Would you want yourself on your team or as team captain? If not, it is time to make the necessary changes to transform yourself into someone you would! How do you go about this? You must engage in the Three Ps:
• Positive Self-Talk
• Positive Reinforcement
• Practice
Positive self-talk is the foundation for a positive attitude; a positive attitude is the structure for positive words; and positive words are what will make Team You into a winning team! Getting “amped” for the big game is not just something that applies to athletes, but much to the contrary, it applies to that big interview, that big meeting with the client, that big presentation, that hot date, and all of the most important moments in your life. Anyone who regularly engages in positive self-talk can coach themselves into feeling good thru the use of positive words. And the better you feel, the better your life will be.
Positive reinforcement is essential to strengthening those attitudes and behaviors you want to exhibit. When Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger feels that his offensive linemen have done a good job of protecting him, he buys them new suits and takes them out to dinner. You can use this tool to reward yourself for good behavior and increase the likelihood of doing them again. For example, set goals according to the following schedule:
• Short-term (Where would you like to be in a week?)
• Medium-term (Where would you like to be in a month?)
• Long-term (Where would you like to be in a year?)
Write them down and every time you meet a goal, give yourself a reward because just like we state in our article 8 Easy To Do Solutions, retail therapy can be very good for positive reinforcement. Buy those shoes you’ve had your eye on for a while, go get that new suit or indulge in a delicious dessert! Whatever it is, exercise the self-discipline to only treat yourself when you’ve done something to make your team a better one. This way you’ll look forward to treating yourself and continually display the behaviors that will transform your life.
Finally, you have to practice positive self-talk. How you perform in practice is how you’ll perform under pressure, which is the same skill that proficient musicians utilize to go out on stage in front of great masses of people with precision and mastery. In the same way, train and discipline yourself to practice your positive-self talk diligently, and you too, will perform well under pressure! The more often you give yourself a chance to exhibit your new confidence and positive attitude, the more you will show others that you are the coach of a winning team, and the more they’ll want to keep you around. Remember, confidence is contagious, and you can learn by practicing your performance by practicing positive self-talk.
Engaging in the 3 Ps will inevitably lead you to the 4th P: The Power of Positive Thinking. Having built up your attitude with positive self-talk, reinforced winning behaviors with positive reinforcement and practiced succeeding in challenging environments, you are ready to understand that the power of positive thinking will take Team You anywhere you want to be!
