You are the only person who will determine the outcome of your life. Whether you carry on in your life with a positive attitude, with hope for the future or with a negative attitude of complain, self doubt or hopelessness, it is entirely up to you. See yourself at peace with yourself, visualize your success even when you are striving towards it. As Zig Ziglar said, “If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.”

For success in business or life one requires a lot of hard work and dedication, but for me a positive and winning attitude is the most important requirement. When temporary failures and obstacles comes our way only with a strong positive mental attitude we will be able to march forward towards success and the majority will succumb to the difficulties and loose site of their goals. To reach the pinnacle of success in you life, starting today develop these qualities and attitude of winners:

1. Ask Powerful Questions

When hard times comes many people start wondering and get in a downward spiral of self pity and start questioning, why it is happening to them, why after all efforts they are unable to get what they want. Winners on the other hand ask different questions, what are the short comings in my efforts, what more can I do to achieve my goals, how can I improve  it further and when they ask such constructive and powerful questions, they come across new ways to get what they desire.

2. Take Responsibility

You will agree that most of the times majority will point the reason of failure towards outside . They will blame everything from bad season to weak economy, from high competition to unethical practices. But the winners have the attitude of accepting failure. They will take it as their responsibility. Once you stop whining about the reasons about which you can not do anything, you start looking for solutions. That is the path to success.

3. Focus on long term goals

Let’s accept the fact that no business or for that matter, the conditions in life remain constant or move in single direction. There will be time when you will be facing difficult circumstances and go off track. An important point to remember here is that you need to focus on your long term goals even when facing short term hiccups. If you focus on long term and work on solutions according to the larger vision surely you will be able to make amends and will not be side tracked. Vince Lombardi once said,“It’s easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you’re a winner, when you’re number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you are not a winner.”

4. Be a life long learner

In today’s competitive world the half life of any profession is not more than 3-4 years, meaning it requires continuous learning and innovation in the way you perform your functions. Fact is that 80% of people stop learning anything new after they get into their profession. Learn from every opportunity. Learning even a single new skill will offer so much of advantage to you that you may not even imagine right now. Don’t waste your time in unnecessary chit-chats or social networks, join some related course or go to a seminar and sharpen your saw. Winners have a habit of continuous learning and will possess bigger libraries than bigger TVs.

5. Learn to take risks

Many people are so averse to taking risk that they forfeit their chance of growth. They fear failures without realizing that there is no bigger teacher in life than failures. Taking calculated risks is a winner’s attitude that can take you a long way.

6. Always be Enthusiastic

To have a great positive outlook for the future is definitely a winner’s attitude. Many people surround themselves with negativity because of their failures of the past. They lack optimism in their vision and once someone loose hope for the future, they will never be able to achieve anything of consequence. To do our tasks with great enthusiasm with a belief that we will achieve our goals, and looking at the future with optimism is an attitude that only winners possess.

7. Appreciate the intangible

In the daily grind of things people start relating success with money or position alone. It is very important for you to notice the intangibles like peace in life, your health and family. People with the winning attitude realize that life is not all about money making and they understand what their real assets are.

8. See the gain, not the pain

Winners will always have a strong laser like focus on their goals and the gains that they are after, and they will leave no stone un-turned to design their destiny. On the other hand majority will get frightened with the sheer amount of hard work they need to put up to reach the top and will slip into mediocrity. There simply is no substitute of hard work. To stand up to the challenges and discipline of consistent hard work is a winner’s attitude.

James Allen in his book ‘As a man thinketh’ has gone in detail how our thoughts affect us. It is said we become what we think. So to be a winner in life we require to think as a winner. With full faith in our capabilities, a laser like focus and determination we should continue on the path of progress and success.

Related article: 8 REQUIREMENTS TO BE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL