A Winner's Mindset: 5 Keys to Being Successful Everytime

Ever since I was a little girl, I always knew I would be successful at whatever profession I chose as an adult. Mind you, at that young age, my primary understanding of being successful meant having a job that made me lots of money. I can't tell you how often I dreamt of gorging on hot fudge sundaes while being forced to swallow rice and soy sauce along with the vegetable of the week.

Now that I'm an adult and what I consider to be a pretty successful lab tech, there are five keys that I have learned were fundamental for me in succeeding at whatever I did whether it was in school, work, hobbies, and yes, even relationships.

PASSION

I'm sure we've all heard about this enough but for me, passion is the foundation for the other four keys. Your passion drives you to make the dream a reality; it sustains you when everyone and everything says it will never happen; it invigorates you when the cares of life start to overwhelm you; but most importantly, it brings you the joy and fulfillment that makes life so much richer.

My husband is probably one of the most passionate people I know. He's one of those people who finds something he's interested in, pours himself into learning everything about it, practices and perfects the skill almost obsessively, and then excels at it. His family told me all about it before we got married, but it was only after we got married that I saw it firsthand. His passion drives him to perfect whatever he is doing and anyone who knows him personally can attest to watching him pick up a skill quickly and then performing it as well or better than people who've been doing it for years. Granted, we may not all be that talented at everything we're passionate about, but my point is, when you are passionate about something you can invest your time, money, and whole self into it, without it ever being burdensome. As a result, you can watch your passion flourish.

Main Point: Passion lays the foundation for the following four keys to being successful in whatever you do

COMMITMENT

Being committed to your dream, whatever it might be, is much easier when you are passionate about it. I never met a successful person who was only half-hearted about his or her goals. My dad served in the Army for 23 years and he retired as a SGM which is the highest rank you can attain as an enlisted soldier. My dad was very successful while he served in the military but it wasn't until after he retired that he told me that he didn't enjoy working those long, grueling days. And although he was very proud to serve his country, his body suffered physically from years of PT and he also had to deal with a lot mentally from the time he spent fighting in Saudi. The entire time dad was in the military, however, he dreamt of the day he would open his own convenience store.

In 1998, his dream finally came true. He opened a store in Oregon but because he was still putting us kids through school, he had to continue to "suffer" so that he could keep his promise of putting us through college. My dad lived in his van in the back of the store for a year; took a shower in cold water in the little bathroom that was attached to the store; worked 16 hour days (and sometimes longer!); and often traveled 200 miles almost weekly between our home in Tacoma and the store in Oregon. It's going on 10 years since the day he opened the store, but had my dad not been committed to seeing his passion (owning his store) come to pass, who knows what he'd be doing now....probably relaxing in a retirement home somewhere (just kidding dad!).

Main Point: It's a lot easier to be committed to something when you're passionate about it.

KNOW YOUR FIELD

Granted, you'll never know everything about what you're getting into and truthfully, that's probably a good thing. Knowing TOO much might scare you into not doing anything! I do remember my dad did a lot of research on stores in the Tacoma area before he realized that he would have too much competition here and would be better off looking elsewhere. Thus the journey to Portland, Oregon began....

Dad knew what he wanted to sell in his store and he knew he wanted to cater to Pacific Islanders. Tacoma has a big Islander population but the city already had a few stores that catered to Islanders. Dad talked with one such store owner and got a feel for the business. He observed a lot when he would go into different mom-and-pop stores and he also asked a lot of questions from people who had successful stores themselves. Although dad didn't take any business courses or have a college degree, he had a natural business sense and purposely sought out the knowledge of people who had succeeded in the field he wanted to go into. In fact, even after he opened his store in Portland, a couple that owned a small store in the area came in and gave him some advice on how to run his business successfully.

Main Point: Do research in the field you're interested in and glean from those who have gone before you and succeeded.

MANAGE YOUR TIME, MONEY, AND RELATIONSHIPS EFFECTIVELY

Before my parents met in Hawaii, my dad had accomplished a lot financially for someone who grew up not having much. My mom, on the other hand, was awful at handling finances but always had a wealth of friends whom she could count on. Granted none of her friends were extremely wealthy (too bad for us), but whatever they had to give, they gave with love. My mother practiced the same philosophy her father had taught her: if you help people in need, people will always help you in your need.

When my parents married, they had a hard time finding a balance between managing their money and relationships; they would usually put one first at the expense of the other (ie. it was more important for mom to use money we didn't have on the people she loved). Over the years, they've learned to work together and that's one of the reasons why their business has been so successful. Mom can greet almost every customer that comes into the store by name and many of them look forward to coming in and talking to her and patronize the store while doing so. Dad, on the other hand, has been able to manage their money so well that they've been able to undertake other projects in hopes of expanding their business. Together, they make a great team.

As far as managing their time, because my parents had to deal with raising children while both serving in the military, they have learned to be disciplined with their time. I remember mom telling me once that she was late to PT because the power went out in the middle of the night and she overslept since her alarm clock didn't go off. By the time she got to formation, her sergeant chewed her out and told her no excuse was good enough. Believe it or not, mom was never late again and she got into the habit of sleeping with a wind-up alarm clock as a backup.

Time. We are limited with the time we have so whatever we invest our time into has to be done with a goal in mind. Being disciplined and managing your time wisely will dictate how well you do in whatever task you undertake. Devote enough time to that which is necessary: family, educating yourself, getting proper rest, learning your business and waste less time doing things that take away from your goals.

Main Point: Manage your time, relationships, and money wisely and always balance everything out.

FOCUS

Finally, staying focused on your passion will make sure you accomplish what you set out to do. Remember that staying focused doesn't mean you don't take care of your responsibilities; it just means that you don't allow those things to overwhelm you and cloud your vision. Before dad was able to open his store, he had to endure years in a career he didn't particularly love. Funny thing is, the qualities he learned in his military career also helped him endure those harsh early days when he had to live in his van in the freezing cold. Dad didn't allow the weather, lack of money, or his commitment to put us through college to move him off track. He just figured out another way to make his dream come true while doing what had to be done. Staying focused will always help you find innovative ways around those roadblocks that come up in life...and believe me, they will come up.

Main Point: Keep your focus on your goal and look for creative ways to solve problems that may arise.

Although I used my parents and their business as the main example here, these five keys: passion, commitment, knowing your field, managing your time, relationships, and money effectively and staying focused will help you to be successful in school, in your job, or in your relationships. Good luck and be successful!