Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Captivating the Power of Positive Thinking

By Cervantes Aguilar

The philosophy of triumph in business are not any different than winning on the football field. Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers, a Hall of Fame coach, had such a strong belief about winning, that many of his principles are practiced and taught in the business industry throughout the world.

Although Lombardi has been gone nearly forty years, his philosophy of winning is as timely and pertinent today as then. He has been credited with coining numerous phrases that hit home with people in business, politics, and sports. Here are just a few that seem to work in every facet of life:

"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up"- Life has many challenges and there will be times you will fail but don't give up. No matter how many times you get knocked down, dust yourself off, get up and keep pushing forward. Out of respect for your peers always be early. Vince would say "be 10-15 minutes early or you are late". If you can maintain punctuality, you will be taking one of the first steps to success.

Be enthusiastic, dedicated, motivated, determined and ambitious. Another famous Lombardi quote was "If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm". These quality attributes will no doubt be passed on to your subordinates especially if you are in a managerial position. If you don't project these traits to others, then the person above you will have no use for you.

"Practice does not make PERFECT - Only PERFECT practice makes PERFECT". If you are okay with just doing enough to get by, then the result will just get you by. If you don't set your expectations higher and strive to be the best, then you are almost guaranteed you won't be the best. This might not result in you being the best there is, but without question you will become ONE of the best!

Here is one of my favorites. "SUCCESS only comes before WORK in the dictionary". It will require had work, dedication and motivation to become successful. The Packers had a play called "The Lombardi Sweep". Every team knew when it was coming at them, but their defenses couldn't stop them. The hard work and continued practice to be perfect will always be a winner.

If you are okay with being mediocre, then you will probably be mediocre. If your thought process is to just be "okay" then "okay" will become a habit. Lombardi said it best when quoted, "If winning isn't EVERYTHING, then why do we keep score?" If your goals and aspirations aren't to be the best, then you can probably plan on coming in second place.

These are just a few of the invaluable Lombardi truisms. They hold true and fast today, just as when he was living them during his lifetime. You couldn't be on Lombardi's team unless you believed in him and what he taught. Live these principles and you too will be on the winning team. - 30462

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