Winning Is A State Of Mind Analysis

Winning is a State of Mind

“The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it” (Rocky Balboa 2006). This partial quote from the sixth Rocky film is entirely too true. When life knocks us down, at that point we have to make a decision. Do we stay down and accept defeat, or do we choose to get up and keep fighting? When you accept defeat and accept your loss, you fall into a pattern of accepting all your failures because losing is a state of mind, and it’s at that moment you have truly failed. But fortunately winning is a state of mind too. Winning and refusing to accept defeat is a mindset. The first step to being a winner is thinking like one. This was a tough lesson for me to learn but at this time in my life I am finally beginning to understand this concept in its entirety.

How do some people manage to shackle three to four ton elephants with nothing but a rope? The explanation lies in their upbringing. Its entire life the elephant is raised shackled to a rope, so when they grow to maturity they have no concept of how strong they truly are. Growing up my life was not one of perfection, but if I was given the opportunity I wouldn’t change a single aspect of my upbringing. Okay, maybe I would try to alter a few events. Such as my parent’s divorce or maybe a few grades I had received on my tests, but not much else. But I grew up shackled by my own “rope”. Growing up I was somewhat of an introvert, but what kid isn’t a little shy when they’re young? But that personality trait mixed with my shyness and my somewhat emotional self was a combination that hindered me to a certain extent from achiev...

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... like some might have, I wouldn’t have played. Especially if I thought I’d further hurt myself, but since I thought I could contribute to my team, it was my obligation to them to try. And although I played with caution, I played without fear and with confidence in myself. “…..it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!” (Rocky Balboa 2006). By choosing to get up when life knocked me down I discovered that even at my lowest points I can still persevere and achieve great feats. My life is by no means easy, but what some might see as setbacks I see as life pushing me into the “deep end pool”. I see a challenge and an opportunity to try and swim and achieve greatness. And once you get into the habit of “swimming” winning becomes a state of mind.