The Hunger Paradox
There’s a crucial difference between being hungry to win and being hungry to do what winning requires. The first mindset focuses on the outcome, while the second focuses on the daily actions necessary to achieve that outcome. This subtle shift in perspective can be the difference maker that stacks the odds either for or against you.
Winning Isn’t a Destination
Winning doesn’t happen overnight. It demands consistent, relevant action. As you continually learn, take action, and refine your approach, you’ll inevitably stack the odds in your favor, making winning an almost certain outcome. The alternative, of course, is to quit. But quitting isn’t always a bad thing. It depends on the context. If you’re quitting one approach to try a new one that still aligns with your ultimate goal, then quitting can actually help you win. However, if you’re quitting on your goal altogether, then you’re setting yourself up for failure and at that point you’re just a loser.
The Power of Quitting
Quitting is commonly known as the default to instant failure, but it can be a powerful strategy. It depends on what you’re quitting and why. If you’re abandoning a flawed approach to make a way for a better one, that’s not failure, that’s adaptation. Think of it like this: Plan A didn’t work, so it’s time to move on to Plan B. Maybe Plan A just needs a little refining rather than a complete overhaul. That’s where the “fire, ready, aim” philosophy can catapult a person forward. Take action, recalibrate based on what you’ve learned, refine your approach, and take action again. Repeat this process in an endless loop until you start making reasonable progress in a reasonable amount of time. That’s how you’ll know you’re on the right track. Embrace the “fire, ready, aim” philosophy: act, recalibrate, refine, and charge forward.
Measuring Progress
To gauge your progress, set some markers starting with a baseline. This will give you something to measure against. For example, let’s talk about money. Building wealth is a worthy common goal, and money is easy to quantify. But you have to factor in inflation. If inflation is 4% per year and you’re only growing your wealth by 3%, then you’re actually losing ground. Even if you’re matching inflation, you’re just treading water. You need to be growing your wealth at a rate that outpaces inflation. But what’s a reasonable target? 2% above inflation? 5%? 10%? That’s for you to decide, based on your goals and your finite time.
The Intangible Goals
But what about the goals that can’t be measured? Love, happiness, fulfillment – these are the wins that touch our hearts. We can’t quantify love or joy or fulfillment using numbers.
The best we can do to measure our feelings is by various pain scales such as the Numerical rating scales which uses numbers to rate pain. Or the visual analog scales which asks you to select a picture that best matches your pain level. And the Categorical scales which Primarily uses words, possibly along with numbers, colors, or locations on the body. How do we measure love? The opposite of pain. The best answer I have is to measure the heart flutters, the butterflies in your stomach, the giddiness, the tingles you feel throughout your mind and your body on a scale from 1 to 10. But who wants to do that? When you’re in love you just want to swim in how that feels. And that is totally valid! I’ve never once thought to try and scientifically measure feelings of love I have. When you’re in love, you just want to bask in the glow of it all.
Seizing the Day
At the end of the day, winning often just means having the guts to go for it. To take life by the horns and decide that you’ll do whatever it takes, as long as you keep moving forward. That’s the hunger that leads to winning. So, do, learn, refine, do again, and keep repeating. Embrace the journey, and the wins will follow.