CHOOSE THE WAY OF THE CHAMPION
What is it that really makes a champion a champion? Is it their unique level of talent? There’s no disputing that natural ability matters and that it plays an important part in our pursuit, but there are talented people everywhere who never come close to reaching their potential or achieving anything worthwhile.
Is it luck? You can't deny that fate and good fortune play a major role, too. And yet, there seem to be just as many successful people who’ve overcome some bad breaks along the way as there are unsuccessful people who seem to have squandered what appeared to be their golden ticket. So if it’s not talent that makes a champion a champion, and it’s not luck that determines their destiny, then what is it? What’s their secret to success? And what does it reveal for those of us working to become people worthy of winning in our own lives?
The answer to that question is simpler than we'd like to admit. The truth is, it’s all about their choices. Champions are who they are because of the choices they make. It’s not the sexy or glamorous explanation you might be hoping for, but it’s true for them, and true for each of us, too. The choices we’ve made have led us to where we are now, and the choices we make today determine where we go next.
That really should be encouraging and empowering news - that the defining element of our success is up to us. For the majority of people, though, it’s easier to focus on talent or luck or something else that exists outside their control, because that explanation takes the ownership and responsibility out of their hands. Becoming someone worthy of winning starts with accepting that while all those outside elements influence our experience, it’s our decisions that determine our destiny.
The choices that have gotten you here where you are today matter, but I'm more interested in where it is you want to go moving forward, and the important question that comes with it. What choices will getting there require you to make? I’m confident the answer to that question includes more responsibility, more ownership, and more commitment than what's gotten you here.
That starts with accepting that there are a number of decisions that you are responsible for making each day - some major and some minor, some public and some private - that move you closer to your champion self...or farther from it. We typically use a fork in the road to illustrate those moments of decision. But instead of picturing two paths diverging horizontally, I'd encourage you to envision two paths diverging vertically. One path is headed uphill, elevating your performance and moving you closer to the best version of yourself, and the other path is headed downhill, diminishing your performance and moving you farther from it.
That picture more accurately clarifies the harsh reality of what becoming a champion requires. It clarifies that becoming your best is uphill from here. Choosing the way of the champion is difficult, uncomfortable, and inconvenient. Plenty of people say they want to win, but winning is hard. That’s why most people don’t do it. Mediocrity, on the other hand, is downhill. It's the easier option. You can comfortably and conveniently coast your way there.
That picture of two diverging paths also clarifies where your choices take you over time. One individual decision doesn’t mean much on its own, but choosing to do what champions do over and over again, day after day eventually adds up. The compounding effect of that daily commitment sets the champions apart - not only from those they’re competing with and against, but just as importantly, from that old, mediocre version of themselves - and it continues to separate them over time.
Ironically, those who aren't willing to do what it takes are usually the ones who believe that talent or luck or some other uncontrollable element is the reason they aren’t where they want to be. It's proof that for better or worse, our level of conviction to that one simple belief - that it’s all about our choices - is often the determining factor in what we decide to do, where we end up going, and ultimately who we eventually become.
I want to challenge and encourage you to keep cultivating that champion’s mindset. Clarify where it is you want to go, who it is you want to become, and what choices winning in that area will require you to make. Elevate your levels of ownership, responsibility, and commitment. Validate again today - in moments both major and minor, public and private - that you are in fact someone worthy of winning. Don't settle for mediocrity. Instead, choose the way of the champion.