Each and every one of us is born with the potential to become a champion. Some people strive to fulfill that potential, and unfortunately most people don’t. Most people spend their lives wallowing in mediocrity, never pushing themselves to be, do, and have all that they can imagine. Most people never learn to unleash the champion that lies dormant inside of them.
Becoming a champion is not about beating others in a competition, winning awards, or gaining recognition and accolades. Becoming a champion is about reaching your fullest potential. It’s about constantly pushing the limits of what you thought was impossible for you. It’s about pushing yourself to become the best version of yourself that you possibly can. It’s not about competing to do better than others; it’s about realizing that you are your only competition.
10 ways you can begin to unleash the champion that already exists within you:
1. Refuse to Settle
From this day forward, make a commitment to never settle for anything less than you know is possible. If you know something can be improved, improve it. If you know you can do more, do more. Push yourself to do all that you can with what you have, and never allow yourself to give any endeavor anything less than your best efforts. Demand more from yourself than the people around you demand of you. Raise the standards in every area of your life.
2. Set Bigger Goals
If you don’t have any goals, there’s your first problem. If you do have goals but they don’t scare you, there’s your second problem. To become a champion, you need to be setting big goals. It doesn’t matter if you set goals that you don’t know how you will accomplish. How you will accomplish something is not nearly as important as you making the decision to accomplish it. Once the decision and commitment is made, the strategy will begin to appear. Set huge goals, and instead of asking “can you achieve it?” ask: “how can you achieve it?” and begin searching for the answers.
3. Stretch Your Comfort Zone Daily
Push the limits of your comfort zone every day. To become the best version of yourself, you must learn to become comfortable in uncomfortable situations. If you’re afraid of public speaking, go speak in front of a crowd. If you’re terrified of rejection, go make a few sales calls. Each time you step outside of your comfort zone, facing your fears in the process, your comfort zone expands. You must grow into the best version of yourself. Growth occurs in moments of discomfort.
4. Surround Yourself with Other Champions
You become just like the people you spend the most time with. Start limiting the amount of time you spend with people who are not where you want to be, and start spending your time with more successful people. The more time you spend with people who are more successful than you are, the more likely you are to become more successful. Find individuals who are achieving the results you want to achieve in various areas of your life (business, wealth, health, relationships, etc.) and emulate them.
5. Spark Your Creative Genius
Find a vocation that you have passion for, and that sparks that child-like sense of curiosity and excitement within you. Passion fuels creativity, and creativity fuels innovation. The top leaders in any field are always the innovators. They are continuously coming up with new ideas and creating new solutions to existing challenges.
6. Embrace Change
Most people fear change. Champions don’t. They know that the only thing that is truly constant is change itself. Instead of fearing change, you should learn to embrace it, and even anticipate it. Anticipating changes and positioning yourself to thrive as those changes occur is a surefire way to sustain your success.
7. Never Compromise Your Values
Make a commitment to never compromise your most important values for the sake of pleasing others. Never sacrifice your integrity for personal gain or for the gain of others. Your reputation is worth more in the long run than any potential gains to be had in the short run.
8. Make Success a Habit
Behind every result is a specific process, and every process consists of very specific habits. Adopt the habits that you know are necessary for your success into your routine, and be consistent. Consistency has a compounding effect on results. When you maintain a habit consistently for a long period of time, you will reap the benefits of the results it inevitably creates.
9. Never Stop Learning
To succeed in any field you must continually learn, grow, and increase your value to the marketplace. Become a life-long student of the principles and strategies that will sustain and increase your success. Read books, take courses, attend seminars, network with key players in your field. Learn from your own experiences, and also from the experience of others. The most important education is self-education. Never stop investing in yourself. You are your greatest asset.
10. Never Rest for Too Long
Laziness and procrastination are not terms that champions are familiar with. They know how to work, and they know how to recover, but they don’t know how to sit around and do nothing. To perform at a high level consistently for a long period of time, organize your life in cycles of work and recovery. Work, then recover. Work, then recover. Celebrate your milestones, but don’t wait too long before you tackle your objectives or you will risk losing momentum. Always have something to work towards.
Photo credit: meridican via flickr
