Winners and Whiners

What makes a winner? How do they operate differently from whiners? Hurricane Harvey, aka HH, has made the distinction clear.

Whiners get stuck in a mindtalk loop – “This wasn’t supposed to happen! This always happens to me (never to other people). No matter what I do, I can never get ahead.” The “reasons why” are varied and endless.

Winners have the same anger/depression/fear – but they don’t wallow in that dis-ease. They have high RQ – Resilience Quotient. Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulty. Their RQ is founded on their ability to tell the truth. Really.

Truth starts with claiming personal, fundamental truths (I matter, I care, I love/am loved, I’m smart, etc.), then moves on to letting go of adherence to the former intention, assessing the current reality and relevance to the new situation … and …. given the Way It Is Now, what course-corrections are required, what new options, possibilities, pathways forward are there?

RQ is what makes some businesses highly profitable … and turns some sports stars into legends. My 8 year-old grandson just lost his first football game of the season. His RQ (in this case a new learning) – when all your receivers are covered, and you’re alone in the backfield, run the football yourself. He learned that lesson by getting sacked.

We’ve all been sacked in our lifetime. And while it is important to run the full gamut of feelings (our initial reaction), how long does it take to get up and call the next play?