Mindset of Success

What makes someone a champion not just in sports or training, but in life as well?

Success leaves clues.

Let’s hear what two-time NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Champion Gabe Dean from Cornell has to say about this topic.

According to Dean, it boils down to your willingness to learn from two things: your mistakes and your work ethic.

Losing is tough. Everyone in life has had a defeat, but a champion’s mindset is taking that loss and turning into something beneficial by teaching yourself a lesson. Learning from your mistakes is a powerful tool, yet I feel it is so underutilized.

People go through the day making the same mistakes over and over without ever learning from them and choosing better. This applies to the office as well as the gym. Yes, it may be hard to learn from the defeat, and yes, it may be humbling, but learning from it will set you apart from the rest of the pack and make you one of the elite in whatever you are working on.

This brings us to the topic of work ethic. Work ethic is the principle that hard work is intrinsically virtuous or worthy of reward. Having a powerful work ethic sets you a part from the average.

I personally hate the average mindset of just doing enough to get by. Being able to push through and do more than expected of you will take you farther in life than “just getting by.” Being able to make weight for wrestling because your team needs you to, being able to stay extra hours in the office or school to finish a project, and doing two hours of cardio a day to get in shape for bodybuilding are all expressions of work ethic.

True strength is being able to push through those dark moments and make yourself better every chance you can. Everyone has an opportunity to be a champion in some way.

Exploit that opportunity and be a better person for your team, husband, wife, girlfriend or boyfriend. But, most importantly, do it for yourself!