By Coach Cheyenne

There is a winner inside of you!  Yes, you!  You are probably thinking, “Not me. I can see a winner in Joe or Suzie, but definitely not me.  Joe and Suzie have their lives together.  They are good at everything and they are just ‘winners’.”

Let me let you in on a secret.  Joe and Suzie might look like they have it altogether, but I assure you that they are struggling with something.  We all are struggling with something.  Some people either hide it better than others or some people just handle it better than others.  Everyone who looks like a winner has had to work on something to get them to that place.

When I think of a winner, I think of Michael Jordan.  He wasn’t always a winner and didn’t always win.  He didn’t even make his high school basketball team at first.  I’m sure he felt bad, but instead of just saying, “I’m not a winner,” he decided to get to work until he got better. He didn’t win every game, but he’s most known for the six NBA Championships he did win.  

Here’s some tip on how to find the winner inside of you:

1. Take a good look at your strengths.  Write them down.  These are usually talents that God has given to each individual.  Everyone has something they are good at.
2. Take a good look at your weaknesses.  Even winners have weaknesses.  Write them down and work on them.  Don’t dwell on them, but work on them.  Don’t avoid them.  If you work on your weaknesses, whatever they may be, it makes you get out of your comfort zone, which leads us to the next step.
3. Get out of your comfort zone.  Anytime you do something that gets you out of your comfort zone, it causes some growth in you as a person.  If you are doing CrossFit, you are already out of your comfort zone a lot of the time during the workout.  If we are talking about every day life, find something you normally wouldn’t do (as long as it’s legal LOL) and try it.  You might not be great at it, but at least you tried something new!  Each new experience we have creates something new in us.  
4. Don’t compare.  Comparing yourself with others is the fastest way to tear down the winner you have inside of you.  Comparison steals your joy!  Just work on you and give your best effort and don’t worry what anyone else is doing or can do.
5. Commitment and Hard Work.  Deciding to be committed to something takes work, and it takes a personal decision.  You have to decide to be a winner and stick with it.  It takes a lot of hard work to reach any goal.  A sense of accomplishment (feeling like a winner) comes with hard work.  
6. Consistency.  To find success in anything, you have to be consistent.  That means show up and work even when you don’t feel like it.  Even if you aren’t making leaps and bounds on something you are working on, make sure you keep taking those baby steps and keep showing up.
7. Staying positive.  Being mentally tough is another way to look at it.  Everyone has those negative thoughts that come into their head.  You can take control of those thoughts.  They are lies!  Feed yourself with positive thoughts.  

Speak positivity.  Beyond our thoughts are our WORDS.  Speak what you want to come into existence.  What I mean by that is you can’t believe you are a winner if you are telling yourself that you are a loser. That doesn’t mean you have to tell everyone that you are a winner….but you can tell yourself out loud when you need to.  There’s no shame in that!

8. Surround yourself with positive influences.  Find some friends that are like minded in what you want to accomplish or that you think are already winners.  You can learn from them, and guess what?  They will also learn from you!
9. Believe!  You have to believe in yourself.  This can be hard, especially if you grew up thinking or were told that you were not a winner.  This is a big step in finding the winner inside of you.  No matter what anyone else says or believes, you need to believe in yourself.  YOU CAN DO IT!
10. No Excuses.  This is definitely easier said than done….but it can be done.  You can think about how terrible your life is or was when you were growing up, and that can get you down.  Here’s the thing, someone somewhere has had it harder than you.  So, you can get past your past, whatever happened to you. Learn to forgive.  There is so much freedom in forgiveness.   I’m not saying it will be easy, but it can be done.  Educate yourself on how to work on whatever you need to work on and do it!  NO EXCUSES!
11. Don’t be afraid to FAIL.  Most people think failing is a bad thing.  You need to rethink this one and look at failing as a positive thing.  Failing can teach you what you need to work on….and then work on it. Failing is a great opportunity!  F.A.I.L. stands for First Attempt in Learning.  

“Failure is the opportunity to begin again, but more intelligently.” -Henry Ford

Finding the winner inside of you will not be easy.  It will take hard work.  It will be a struggle but know this: You are not alone in this journey.  Come talk to one of us about it and we’ll find the winner inside of you together!