A winner is always part of the solution

Coach Traub, performance consultant:
http://www.coachtraub.com/inspirational_stories.html

A winner is always part of the solution;
a loser is always part of the problem.
A winner always has a program or response;
a loser always has an excuse or explanation.
A winner always says “Let me help you,”
a loser always says “That is not my job.”
A winner sees an answer in every problem;
a loser sees a problem in every answer.
A winner exclaims “It may be difficult, but it is possible;”
a loser cries “It may be possible, but it’s much too difficult.”
A winner makes a commitment;
a loser makes promises.

1. What is the difference between negative competition and healthy competition? How could you promote healthy competition at your place of work?
   
2. In your next business negotiation, how might you create an environment where both you and the other party “win”?
   
3. Are you “winning battles but losing the war”? Where do your priorities fit in when it comes to winning?
   
4. What could you do to affirm the winning qualities in other people?

Olympic champion Jesse Owens once put it like this: ‘There is something that can happen to every athlete, every human being - it’s the instinct to slack off, to give in to the pain, to give less than your best . . . the instinct to hope to win through luck or your opponents not doing their best, instead of going to the limit and past your limit, where victory is always to be found. Defeating those negative instincts that are out to defeat us is the difference between winning and losing, and we face that battle every day of our lives.”