What does it take to have a winning mindset? To answer this question, we have to discuss competition.
Almost everything we do in life is competing against others. We compete for attention. We compete for promotions. We compete for a spot on the team, we even compete for the beautiful women or men we’re attracted to.
But to compete with any measure of success, we must cultivate a winning mindset. If we don’t, I can promise there’s nothing good in store — last place, leftovers, and broken dreams is all we get. But… if we cultivate a winning mindset, we’ll outcompete everyone who stands in our way.
This is true for all the salespeople and sales leaders out there. And today I’m going to share the three key components of a winning mindset.
Drum roll please…
They are 1.) Vision 2.) Belief 3.) Confidence
Now, before you skim this article, or just check out completely, I’m going to specifically show how YOU can apply vision, belief, and confidence in your daily life to reach great heights and dominate in sales and life. And I’m going to use a hero of mine as an example.
The Three Characteristics of a Winning Mindset
A Winning Mindset has a Clear Vision
Cristiano Ronaldo. Heard of him? He’s a legend in sport, one of the most famous and highest-paid athletes in the world. His trophy collection would fill a convention room, and there’s no denying his greatness. No doubt he’s a hero in my book.
What’s interesting, though, is that Ronaldo comes from humble beginnings. Look at his life — he didn’t have a special upbringing; in fact, he grew up poor, sharing a room with his three siblings and sometimes going hungry.
So… how did he rise to legend status? Simply by chance? Not even close.
From an early age, Ronaldo’s dream was to be number one in fútbol, or soccer. He had a clear vision from the start. Throughout the years, he never approached his world, his games, his season, or probably anything without a crystal clear vision of what he wanted. The odds were stacked against him, but he KNEW he was going to be great. He KNEW it was possible. And he went after it.
Now what about your business, or your approach to your sales career? Do you have a clear vision of what you want? And I’m not talking about KPIs and quarterly sales numbers. We all have those. What I mean is… do you have a vision for greatness? Can you close your eyes and actually see what you want to achieve? Can you see the type of person you want to become?
You can’t have a winning mindset without vision. But cultivate vision and you’re well on your way to making more sales calls, setting more appointments, crushing more demos, closing more deals, getting more referrals, and outcompeting everyone else in your world.
Tip: Take an hour today to sit in silence. Turn off all devices. Close your eyes and begin casting a vision in your mind. What is it that you want in life? You can start working toward it if you can define it (if you can’t define it, you’re a lost ship at sea!). Write it down and read it aloud ten times per day for the next 30 days.
A Winner’s Mindset has Belief
Once you have a vision, you need to cultivate the belief that you can achieve it. Look, I know a lot of people that have a clear vision but lack belief. You can see the doubt in their eyes. And you often hear things like, “I know the direction I want to go, but I’m not sure I have the skill or education to get me there.”
You must eliminate these limiting beliefs. When Ronaldo is on the field, he truly believes he’s going to find the back of the net. And he does. This isn’t new-age put-it-out-to-the-universe stuff. It’s a fact of life, it’s even a fact of science. Your biochemistry changes and adapts to achieve what you truly believe.
Here’s how one scientific study explains it…
“Everything exists as a ‘Matrix of pure possibilities’ [like] molten wax or moldable soft clay. We shape them into anything we desire by choosing to do so, prompted, dictated (consciously or unconsciously) by our beliefs.”
What is more… the study goes on to say that belief “gives us the key to unlock the immense power within us. And it is our awareness of this awesome truth that changes everything… Our beliefs provide the script to write or re-write the code of our reality.”
WOW! Now ask yourself, do you have the BELIEF to shape your future into that which you desire?
Deep down inside, do you believe you can step into your vision and achieve greatness?
Now let’s get a little more practical. Regardless of past performance, do you believe that you have what it takes to lead your industry in sales, new customers, or new accounts? If you’re a salesperson, do you believe that you can rise to the top of the pack and be number one in your territory, company, industry?
Bottom line, you need to muster up more belief in yourself. Start with the little things. Start today by believing you can make calls longer than anyone else on your team. Others will leave at 6 pm, and you will stay till 7 pm. Do you believe you can do that? Good! You’re well on your way. Cultivate this type of belief in 100 small ways throughout your week and you WILL begin to rise up and achieve massive success, guaranteed. It’s science.
The Right Mindset has Confidence!
Finally, the winner’s mindset is brimming with confidence.
Of course, there is a fine line between arrogance and confidence, and Ronaldo walks this line with near perfection. Outsiders will say he’s arrogant, but true fans, his teammates, and even his opponents know that it’s confidence. (He also has a good amount of humility, joy, and he gives back to his community.)
Okay, but where does confidence come from? It comes from practice. I’m not a baker. So I wouldn’t feel confident in the kitchen baking a wedding cake. I can’t just gain confidence by saying “I’m going to do it. I’m going to put it out into the universe and it’s going to happen for me.” That’s just not how it works. You have to put in the work and practice, practice, practice. In time, you will master your craft — be it sales or soccer — and become more confident than ever.
In just about any sales role, whether you’re an SDR or a high-ticket closer, you can gain confidence by working toward mastery. The key word here is “working.” If you have the vision, believe in yourself, and work hard, success is YOURS. It’s really that simple.
What would your career look like if you practiced your tonality, read up on overcoming objections, arrived early and stayed late, made 50% more calls than the next best sales guy on the team? Don’t you think this work ethic would breed confidence? You bet it would. And confidence ultimately breeds success.
Final Thoughts
You can adopt a winner’s mindset starting today. And I suspect you desire to if you’ve read this far. You’re probably not comfortable making $50K, or $100K per year. You know you could be making $250K, $500K, or more!
Like Ronaldo, is there one more sprint you can make? Maybe you have 5 minutes left in the game, do you have legs to give it your all? Can you make 5 more dials before you leave for the day? Just 5 more dials. If so, you can beat the defender and make the goal. A winner’s mindset doesn’t settle. Winners always raise the bar.
Just remember it takes vision, belief, and confidence. These three characteristics of the winning mindset all work together and feed into one another. Once you flip the switch in your mind that you will achieve greatness in sales or in life, there will be no stopping you.
Until next time…
Johnny-Lee Reinoso