I was blessed to have a few coaches in life that made an impact on me. As with most coaches one of had a few catch phrases that he used ALL the time. One of these was...
"Are you a champ or a chump?"
The funny thing about hearing something hundreds of times is it becomes ingrained within you.
I find myself asking this several times a week. It can be when I'm training, at work or several other situations. It serves as a reminder to get and keep my ass in gear.
Of-course my definition of a champion maybe very different than yours. In my option you can be the best of the best and still be a chump. You can also place dead last and be a champion.
To me being a champion is more about "actions" than "results".
For example:
Do you make excuses for every mistake you make?
That is what chumps do. Champions will take responsibility and see where they can improve and then TAKE ACTION to become better. I can't count the number of times I've had to stop myself making excuses. I also try to surround myself with people who call me out on my bullshit when it begins.
I do feel you need to find the root source of problem so you fix it and move forward but spending so much time making excuses is a waste of time because they get you nowhere and nobody cares. Hell, when you get down to it YOU don't even care. Here is how I know this. Think back 6 months ago to a mistake you made or anything you caught yourself making excuses about. Now problems never come in single digits so what was the secondary issue at the time? What were your excuses for that?
Can't remember can you?
That's because it wasn't a big deal in the first place. If it was you would still remember it.
Do you spend more time trying to not do work than you do actually doing work?
I just got a report back from our IT Partner. They work with dozens and maybe close to 100 companies. Based on their internal data the average employee of all the servers they manage spends close to 3 hours per day on Facebook. To state this more fairly, Facebook is opened on each machine close to 3 hours per day. This could be in a separate browser, tab or window. For those companies that opted into having Facebook blocked showed a 20-25% increase in productivity. Some showed a double digit increase in net profit margin. Based on the time alone this is 780 hours per year - almost 20 full 40 hour work weeks. This is equivalent to a part time job!
To make matters worse this was based on the average. Based on a quick google search the average person spends around 30-45 minutes per day on Facebook. As a business owner this tells me there are many that are on it during breaks and others that are on it all day.
I will go out on a limb and say out of all these people a large percentage of them said at one point or another that they didn't have enough time to get their work done.
This is only one distraction. Add to this normal procrastination, interruptions, lack of focus and poor time management and it's easy to see how so many get into time crunches. THIS is spending more time NOT doing work than doing work. Oh, add to this the time they spend on social media at home and on their phones. Think of how much times this really is. It gets INSANE!
We all have a choice and nobody is forced to spend this much time on social media (unless it's their job).
When there is a choice to be made and that choice is one that moves you away from your aim, goal or objective then you are choosing to be a chump - not a champion.
I noted above an example of the worst case. Let me provide an example of someone I personally know with a champion attitude. This person is self employed with no employees and part of their job is writing. Every morning when waking the first 2 hours of the day is spent writing. I was told most of this may never be published and a lot of it is just rewriting the works from great authors. This is being done to enhance a skill set that if you were to ask me is already outstanding. To restate this writing is NOT to be published but to become a better writer. This person does the published writing at a different time of the day.
When adversity hits do you see yourself as a victim?
Shit happens, why should you or anyone else be any different? Anything worth doing carries a risk. Most of the time this risk will not pay off - that is why it's called a risk! You learn from it and move on. The lessons you learn from your mistakes are what create the successes in the future. If you spend your time sitting around feeling sorry for yourself your not only a chump but you will be a lonely one because nobody else gives a shit. Think about this for a minute:
1. Those who want to see you fail will be happy so why do they care that you failed.
2. The vast majority of the world is indifferent because they don't know you nor do they care.
3. Those closest to you will love you regardless of if you fail or succeed BUT you whining ass will begin to drive them nuts if you start playing the victim card.
Drama Kings and Queens are Chumps
If all your days are filled with Drama - or even most of your days then take a look in the mirror and you will begin to see a big part of the problem.
Here is a test for you if you fall into this trap. Find a project you are really passionate about. I like to write so a good example would be to write a manual on your life story. Now put crazy deadline on it. Something like 3 weeks. Commit to it and the deadline. Make it something that MUST be done. Now do it.
Watch what happens to all the "drama" when you become very busy working toward something meaningful. Trust me, you will not have time for it and if you do then your project doesn't matter enough to you.
A funny thing happens when you don't have time for others peoples bullshit. They will stop bringing it to you... because you don't care they will find someone who will - or - you will cut them out of your life as they are draining you.
Now if you are the person who starts it all you will also not have the time to start the shit in the first place. Then again I can't think of a single person who has ever admitted they were responsible for starting tons of drama but I do know those who are the busiest and working the hardest don't seem to have as much drama in their life.
Stop trying to be like others!
Stop comparing yourself to other lifters, companies, competitors and people. The more you try to be like them the less you are being YOU.
Your time is better spent trying to figure out who you are, what you stand for and what you stand against. The old saying rings true, if you don't stand for something than you will stand for anything. Discover who you are and what makes you different. In training we all have strengths and weaknesses. We work on how to use our strengths to the greatest advantage while bringing up weak points.
When you copy, imitate and use all the same exact methods as others, even if you do everything exactly the same, you will never be like them because you ARE NOT THEM!
Be a champion and discover what makes YOU great and BECOME the best version of this you can.