Here’s what I have figured out about the winner mindset so far :

1. Winners are not overly concerned with objective reality. To them, everything is either a stepping stone to their success or irrelevant. This keeps them focused and driven, and it’s that drive that powers them through obstacles that would stop a loser.
2. Winners don’t quit. This seems obvious on the surface of it, but a lot of people waste a lot of time ignoring this basic truth. Winners take the attitude that they will never quit pursuing their goals unless the universe forces their hand. Otherwise, it’s eternal striving, and the joy it brings by making you feel alive.
3. That means winners do not make excuses. They recognize that hiding behind excuses – especially flimsy ones – is loser thinking and refuse to go there. If they don’t succeed at something, they don’t make excuses. They don’t assign blame. They know that no matter what, their response will be the same : get up and try again. Excuses and blame only get in the way of that.
4. Winners are brutally honest with themselves when it comes to performance. You either make it or you don’t. They will scrutinize themselves after every failure, find the weakness or lack that led to the failure, then attack it with great ferocity.
5. Winners see obstacles as challenges, not roadblocks. Winners believe that the greater the obstacle, the more glory there is in overcoming it, and they know that when they overcome it that it will only make them feel stronger.
6. Winners believe in strength.They know that strength is the key to success and they strive to become stronger all the time. They are attracted to anything they can use to become stronger : stronger body, stronger will, stronger character, stronger mind, stronger everything. They know that the stronger you are, the easier life gets, and the more they can take on. They cherish the feeling of strength and will do what it takes to preserve and expand it.
7. Winners are not afraid of pain or hard work. They don’t relish pain but they do not let the fear of pain keep them from getting what they want. They know that pain is temporary and success can last a lifetime. So they are willing to work hard to get what they want and the fact that this makes life harder doesn’t bother them.
8.  Winners are deeply connected to their id. They feel the inner fire that drives them and they intuitively grasp that it is this fire which will power them to victory as they define it. Instead of trying to kill it off, they give it all the freedom they can, and only suppress it when it gets in the way of their goals or does not conform to their sense of themselves. If it registers to them as weakness, they will drive it out of themselves. But otherwise, they let their inner fire burn freely, and this is the source of their seemingly limitless energy.
9. Winners have a high opinion of themselves. This is often seen as a weakness, but it is vitally important to success. You can’t succeed unless you believe you deserve to succeed, and unless your definition of success is extremely modest, that is going to require going quite a bit beyond the ordinary world into the realm of high achievement. Their self-esteem is the same size as their goals. It has to be.
10. Finally, winners act on their emotions guided by their reason. They act on impulses and accept the consequences. They understand, deep down, that acting on their impulses strengthens their will, and that things which seem stupid in the short term can pay off on a personal level, at least as a visceral lesson of what NOT to do.

That’s what I have so far. But know this : this does not mean that if you do not think that way, you are doomed to being a loser forever.

You are only a loser if you refuse to even consider the idea that they know things you don’t and you could learn a lot from their example. If you want what others have, you have to think about how they got it and what part their mindset played in that.

If you are willing to learn, and open yourself to change, you can move from loser to winner. Not instantly, of course, but over time. You can dig deep and find your id connection – here’s a hint, it’s located near your lust and ambition – and learn to open it up and harness its raw power to your dreams, and ride it fearlessly to your destination.

You also can start catching yourself employing loser thinking – like “that’s too hard, I could never do that” or “someone like me could never do that” – and replacing them with winner thoughts – like “this is going to be an amazing challenge” and “there is nothing wrong with me and I deserve success as much as anyone else does”.

I am just starting out on this journey myself, so don’t think I am coming at this from a place of smug security I have been the victim of loser thinking for a long long time, and it is not going to be easy to reprogram myself to shake the loser dust off myself and learn to think like a winner.

But I know it can be done. I have seen the results of my small efforts in that direction and they are amazing. I have full confidence that as long as I stay on this path, I will be able to transform myself into the person I have always wanted to be : charming, confident, decisive, easygoing, and primed for success.

So no more excuses. I am going to spend my days kicking ass and my nights taking names. I want to succeed so bad I can taste it, and instead of suppressing that feeling, I am giving it a blank check to take me there.

I am not saying that I will become a famous television writer some day – that’s a contradiction in terms.

But I will be a highly respected and very well paid one.

And to think, you all knew me from Way Back When!

I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.