Become a Serial Winner: 5 Actions to Create Your Cycle of Success

 

Have you ever wondered what separates those who consistently achieve their goals from the rest? Larry Weidel, in his book "Serial Winner: 5 Actions to Create Your Cycle of Success," argues it's not magic, but a structured approach. He outlines a powerful framework – the "Cycle of Winning" – consisting of five key actions that, when repeated, propel you towards continuous success. Here is an outline:

Step 1: Don't Hesitate, Decide

• Overcome self-doubt with facts, not myths about success.
• Identify what truly excites you and why.
• Create a plan to build confidence and guide your efforts.

Step 2: Don't Just Do It, Overdo It

• Start strong with high energy and enthusiasm.
• Put in the extra effort:
  • The Rule of Three: Be prepared for frequent failures, but keep going.
  • Set ambitious goals to push your limits.
  • Train to failure to build strength and endurance.
  • Utilize all available resources creatively (The MacGyver Principle).
  • Do the necessary "grunt work" for a strong foundation.
  • Understand the Law of Averages and the Law of High Numbers – consistency is key.
• Build momentum and adjust as needed.

Step 3: Don't Quit, Adjust

• Persist through setbacks and avoid quitting.
• Use facts for guidance and emotions for fuel.
• Develop a support system and focus on what you can control.
• When disasters strike, adjust your plan with action.
• Stay informed and constantly update your knowledge.
• Make small, regular adjustments for consistent growth.

Step 4: Don't Just Start, Finish

• Finishing small tasks builds discipline and the willpower for bigger goals.
• Develop a "winning streak" by consistently completing tasks.
• Use the Seinfeld Method for daily accountability and visual progress tracking.
• Celebrate small wins to stay motivated.
• Maintain mental toughness for the "last 2%" by focusing and avoiding distractions.
• Prepare for luck by being ready with the right skills.

Step 5: Don't Settle, Keep Improving

• Embrace the ABI Principle (Always Be Improving).
• Develop good judgment and instinct (heuristics) through experience.
• Learn from mistakes and constantly practice for a "winning instinct."
• Implement the ABI Principle through:
  • Continuous learning.
  • Setting progressive goals.
  • Reflecting and using past experiences.
  • Embracing feedback and adapting.
  • Maintaining discipline and avoiding complacency.

Key Traits of Serial Winners

• Humble: They acknowledge there's always room for improvement.
• Passionate: They have immense love for what they do.

Lets dive deeper .....

Step 1: Don’t Hesitate, Decide

1. Winners Conquer Doubt - the focus is on overcoming self-doubt and making confident decisions by dispelling three common myths about success.

   Myth 1: "Just Born That Way" - Many believe winners are born with a natural advantage, suggesting success is genetically predetermined. In reality, many successful individuals rise to the top despite lacking obvious natural talents. The key to their success lies in their willingness to take action and persist in the face of challenges. "Winning is all about action. To succeed, keep moving ahead."

   Myth 2: "Winners Come from Better Families" - Another myth is that winners come from privileged backgrounds with supportive families providing ample resources and opportunities. However, many successful people come from less advantaged backgrounds. Their determination and proactive actions drive their success, not their family background. "Disadvantages are often the source of drive and determination."

   Myth 3: "Winners Are Better Educated" - The third myth suggests winners have superior educational backgrounds, attending prestigious schools and universities. Formal education is not the sole determinant of success. Many successful individuals thrive despite not having an elite education. Their continuous drive to learn and apply knowledge practically plays a crucial role.

   The Disadvantage of Advantage

   Those born with certain advantages often fail to leverage them effectively. Conversely, individuals with fewer advantages develop resilience, creativity, and determination—traits essential for overcoming obstacles and achieving long-term success. "It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog."

   Focus is on inner drive and determination, proving that success is accessible to anyone willing to put in the effort and persist through challenges.

2. What Do You Want and How Bad Do You Want It? Winners hone in on what truly excites them and what they genuinely want by asking themselves two key questions: Do I really want it? and Does it excite me?
   Curiosity leads to deeper engagement and sustained effort. It is directly connected to internal motivation, the most powerful drive in your life. Start with What You Know Right Now: Begin with your current interests and skills. Life is too short to pursue everything available. Focus on what excites you and leverage your curiosity.
3. Plan, but Don’t Overplan: Planning is a critical step towards achieving your goals. It helps to convince yourself that your goals are attainable, provides a roadmap for success, and ensures you have the motivation, resources, and enjoyment in the process. The pitfalls of overplanning include wasting time and energy on excessive details, allowing doubt and fear to creep in and paralyze action, and getting stuck in the planning stage without ever moving forward.

   Plan to Convince Yourself - Creating a plan builds confidence by providing logical steps and clear targets. It helps in measuring progress, celebrating small victories along the way, and reducing frustration by continuously moving forward.

   Taking Action - To avoid getting stuck in overplanning, make informed decisions and start acting on your plans. Accept that not every detail can be foreseen, and be ready to adjust as needed. Focus on executing and learning from the process.

   Focusing on the overall vision and making incremental adjustments can alleviate pressure and facilitate progress.

   The key takeaway is to balance planning with action. Planning should serve as a foundation to build confidence and guide efforts but should not replace the necessity of taking decisive steps toward your goals. "Winners take what they know right now and choose the best course of action they can."

Step 2: Don’t Just Do It, Overdo It

Start with a Bang

Success begins with high energy and enthusiasm. Launching tasks with vigor sets the tone for continued momentum and commitment. Starting strong creates an initial push that can carry you through the challenges ahead.

The Five Keys to Overdoing

Significant achievements require more than minimal effort. Overdoing means putting in the extra effort to exceed expectations, and this approach can be broken down into five key strategies:

1. The Rule of Three To succeed, be prepared to face frequent failures. The Rule of Three highlights that two out of three attempts will fail, but persistence is crucial. For example, in baseball, a player hitting successfully one-third of the time is considered an all-star. Embrace failures as steps towards success.

2. Set a Big Activity Goal Ambitious targets drive significant progress. For instance, when opening a financial services office, setting a goal of 500 appointments despite initial inexperience helped achieve remarkable results. Aim high to push yourself beyond perceived limits.

   "Positive stress from larger challenges fuels energy and excitement. Avoid small goals that limit potential and discourage ambitious efforts."

3. Training to Failure Most people avoid pushing themselves to their limits, but winners capitalize on opportunities even if it means temporary sacrifices. Training to failure builds the strength and endurance needed for long-term success.

4. The MacGyver Principle Utilize all available resources creatively. Winners, like Bill Orender, understand that they must rely on their own efforts and ingenuity. This principle encourages leveraging every resource to its fullest potential, fostering growth and progress.

   "True growth comes when you reach the limits of your current resources. Maximize what you have instead of complaining about what you lack."

5. Do the Things Others Aren't Willing to Do Success requires doing the necessary grunt work. Greatness involves tasks that others cannot or will not do. The conditioning price—hard, foundational work—provides valuable education and prepares you for high-pressure situations.

   "Amelia Earhart said, 'Greatness involves doing what others cannot or will not do.'"

The Law of Averages and the Law of High Numbers

Consistency and effort over time lead to success. Many quit early in a project because the beginning is challenging. Winners understand that the law of averages only kicks in after many attempts, emphasizing the need for persistent effort over time.

"Every new project or endeavor is challenging in the beginning, and so most people (and teams) quit before they really get started."

"Winners accept that the law of averages only kicks in once you’ve activated the law of high numbers. Doing something for a week or a month or sometimes even a year doesn’t give you a big enough sample size to calculate valid averages."

Building Momentum

Winning requires avoiding halfhearted efforts and focusing on building momentum quickly. Leverage your momentum for as long as possible and increase activity when progress starts to slow. This proactive approach ensures you can adjust and overcome obstacles with speed and force.

"If you want to win, don’t waste time giving it a halfhearted effort. Focus on getting past start as fast as you can. Build momentum. When you get it, leverage it for as long as you can. As soon as you start to slow down, increase your activity to get it back."

"When obstacles pop up, you’ll have the speed and force you need to adjust quickly and blow past them."

Step 3: Don’t Quit, Adjust

1. Win Anyway - "You get chance after chance to achieve what you really want. As long as you don't fall down, roll over, and quit. Everybody has scars. Life goes on. And so do winners."

   Our will for what we want in life is like a wooden block. When we quit, we roll it over. Each time you roll it over, the edges become dulled a little. And that makes it easier to quit the next time. Quitting can become a habit, weakening one's resolve over time. Cheating is a form of quitting, and the day you decide to cheat is the day you quit and lose, even if the results don’t appear for weeks, months, or years.

   Stay grounded in reality. It’s great to want to prove people wrong, but if you’re wrong, admit it and move on. Don’t be delusional. If you seem to be running into insurmountable problems, ask yourself if your timing is off. Sometimes, the timing for a new project or endeavor just isn’t right. The worst thing is to stall out. Don’t wait too long to switch plays. Don’t waste time doubting, overthinking, or overplanning.

   Use Facts for Guidance and Emotion for Fuel

   "We all get depressed when things don't work out as we had hoped, but winners don't stay depressed. DON'T LET EMOTION OVERRIDE REALITY." Emotions can easily override logic, especially when faced with sudden and shocking disasters.

   There’s nothing wrong with getting angry. Anger comes when you aren’t getting the results you want. Use the anger to drive yourself to improve. Failures, setbacks, bad luck, disasters—they serve to toughen you up and drive you to improve. Frustration fuels growth. "What allows winners to maintain perspective is a deep, abiding truth: This too shall pass." You mustn't confuse a single failure with a final defeat.

   Serial winners usually have a support system—people who keep them from quitting when they’re on the edge. Focus on what you can control and let go of the rest.

   Winning Is a Series of Adjustments

   Disasters and bad luck can strike out of nowhere, potentially derailing your plans and killing your momentum. The key to success lies not in avoiding these challenges but in how you respond to them. "Whenever disasters or bad luck seem to kill your momentum, immediately spring into action." Reflect on your game plan and identify the next actionable step. If your original plan has blown up, explore alternate routes. "Action tests ideas."

   "Develop a backup plan for 'big stuff'... Consider your most critical-path projects, your most important milestones, and make sure you are prepared for an adjustment if it becomes necessary!" This ensures that when unforeseen obstacles arise, you have a Plan B to fall back on, keeping you in control and moving forward.

   Staying informed is crucial for long-term success. "Develop a system for staying informed. It’s a lot of effort but winners know to stay on top you have to do it." Regularly update your knowledge base and seek out information that can help you make better decisions.

   "When winners run into problems, they don't stall out, waiting for answers to fall into their laps... If they don't already know what they need to do, they immediately begin turning over every rock looking for answers until they get one they can use." This proactive mindset turns challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

   Large, sudden changes can be overwhelming. "Small, simple, regular adjustments are the key to consistent growth and progress." If you’re on the highway and your lane slows down, you switch lanes—a small, simple adjustment that keeps you moving. This principle applies to personal and professional growth as well. Regularly volunteer for new tasks, seek out additional responsibilities, and stay engaged with your team’s challenges. These small steps help you grow into larger opportunities.

Step 4: Don’t Just Start, Finish

1. Almost Finished Gets You Almost Nothing - Success in life is not merely about grand achievements; it’s also about the consistent completion of small tasks. Finishing what you start, regardless of the scale, helps you earn trust, respect, loyalty, opportunities, and even financial rewards. The importance of finishing small tasks cannot be overstated. These seemingly minor accomplishments build the discipline and willpower necessary to tackle larger goals. Here’s why finishing small things matters:

   1. Developing Discipline:

      • If you plan to get on the treadmill for twenty minutes every night, do it.
      • If you aim to spend an hour each week improving a leadership skill, stick to it.
      • If you promise to attend two industry networking events a month, ensure you go.

      By consistently finishing these small tasks, you develop a habit of completion. This habit builds the mental and emotional strength needed to tackle more significant challenges.

   2. Creating a Winning Streak:

      • Winning isn't a one-time thing; it's an all-the-time thing. To keep winning, you have to keep producing in all areas of your life, even if what you're producing is growth in your abilities.
      • Each small win adds to your confidence and reinforces the pattern: "I finish, I finish, I finish."
   Renowned comedian Jerry Seinfeld has a straightforward yet powerful method for maintaining accountability and achieving his daily goals. When young comic Brad Isaac asked Seinfeld for advice, he shared this valuable tip:
   • Daily Commitment: Seinfeld emphasized the importance of writing jokes daily to improve as a comedian. He suggested using a wall calendar and a red magic marker.
   • Visual Progress: Each day Seinfeld met his writing goal, he marked a big X on the calendar. Over time, the chain of X's became a visual motivator. The goal was to not break the chain.

   This method helps maintain consistency and provides a visual representation of progress, making it harder to skip a day.

   Applying the Principle of Finishing in Your Life

   To incorporate the principle of finishing into your daily routine, break down larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks and ensure each task is specific and time-bound. Next, create a visual accountability system using a calendar, planner, or app to track your daily goals. Mark each completed task to visualize your progress.

   Stay committed to your goals wholeheartedly, reminding yourself that finishing small tasks builds the discipline needed for larger achievements. Celebrate small wins by acknowledging and celebrating each completed task, using these small victories as motivation to keep going.

   Remember, success isn't about grand gestures; it's about the consistent, everyday efforts that build a winning streak. So, commit to finishing those small tasks and watch as they pave the way to your greater achievements.

2. Mental Toughness and the Last 2 Percent - The final 2% of any endeavor often feels the hardest, requiring the same, if not more, effort as the initial 98%. Here's how to maintain mental toughness, limit negative stress, prepare for luck, and finish strong.
   Three things can sap our mental toughness just when we need it the most:
   1. Overconfidence from Previous Successes: Believing that past successes will effortlessly carry you through the final stretch can lead to complacency.
   2. Belief That All Hurdles Are Surpassed: Assuming that the major challenges are behind you can make unexpected difficulties seem insurmountable.
   3. Exhaustion: Physical and mental fatigue can diminish your willpower and focus right when you need them most.

   The last 2% seems especially hard because we expect it to be easy. We assume that our momentum will carry us through, leading to a mental unpreparedness for the final effort required. To combat these challenges, develop mental toughness—the will to push through when times are tough. This involves staying focused, shutting out distractions, and continuing to fight until you finish. Winners limit negative stress by maintaining control, focusing on the present, and using logic over emotion. They manage their energy and avoid letting their willpower deplete.

   Strategies for Sustaining Mental Toughness
   1. Carry Your Energy with You: Stay in control regardless of the situation. This involves maintaining focus and a positive attitude, even when tired or stressed.
   2. Avoid Depletion: Understand that willpower can be exhausted by stress, lack of sleep, poor diet, and other factors. Take steps to manage these aspects, especially during the final push of a project.
   3. Limit Negative Stress: Focus on what you can do now rather than obsessing over potential future problems. This helps keep stress levels manageable and maintains a clear head.
   Luck often plays a role in success, but it’s not just about being in the right place at the right time. It's about being prepared to seize opportunities when they arise. Consider luck like catching a wave while surfing—you need to be ready with the right tools and skills to take advantage of it.
   Achieving great things requires sacrifices. You'll need to prioritize your time and resources, often giving up enjoyable activities or comforts. Eliminating unproductive activities to make room for new opportunities and Deciding what to keep and what to discard based on your priorities.
   Clear out mental, emotional, and physical clutter to focus on what truly matters. Focus on activities that are productive and contribute to your goals and reduce the number of decisions you need to make daily to save mental energy for critical tasks. During the final stages, focus on finishing rather than rethinking your goals.

Step 5: Don’t Settle, Keep Improving

1. Success isn't a one-time event; it's a continuous journey of self-improvement. The ABI Principle (Always Be Improving) is the secret behind consistent winners. It's what sets apart those who win occasionally from those who make winning a habit. This principle applies to all aspects of life—careers, hobbies, relationships, and more.

   Improvement isn't just about honing skills; it's also about developing good judgment and instinct, known as heuristics. Heuristics are mental shortcuts formed through repeated experiences, allowing quick decision-making and problem-solving. As you set and pursue big goals, you build these mental shortcuts, helping you recognize patterns and navigate challenges more efficiently. Better judgment enables you to avoid losing situations and seize winning opportunities.
   Developing a Winning Instinct - This instinct develops over time through consistent practice and learning from mistakes. Consider competitive horse riding: warming up a horse by gradually raising the rails helps it perform better by preventing nervousness. Similarly, in life, small, progressive improvements lead to significant achievements.
   Serial winners have the ability to see winning and losing patterns everywhere—in conversations, people, situations, and opportunities. This pattern recognition comes from a continuous cycle of improvement and learning. By always striving to be better, you develop the ability to quickly adapt and make decisions that lead to success.

   How to Implement the ABI Principle

   Commit to Continuous Learning - Invest time in learning new skills and improving existing ones and Stay updated with industry trends and advancements. Set Progressive Goal - Break down large goals into smaller, manageable tasks and Celebrate small wins to build momentum. Develop Heuristics - Reflect on past experiences to identify patterns and Use these patterns to make quicker, more informed decisions. Embrace Feedback - Seek constructive criticism and use it to improve, Be open to change and adapt based on feedback. Stay Disciplined - Maintain a routine that includes regular practice and improvement, Avoid complacency by continuously challenging yourself.

   By embracing the ABI Principle, you can transform occasional victories into a consistent pattern of success. Always be improving, and watch as you turn your aspirations into achievements.

2. Growth by Degrees - Growth and improvement don’t happen overnight. Real progress comes by degrees, gradually transforming zeroes into heroes and novices into champions. This process is the essence of the ABI Principle: Always Be Improving. It’s the foundation of consistent success, defining the approach of serial winners to their careers, hobbies, relationships, and life in general. When starting something new, everyone is lousy at first. Whether it's a new job, learning a language, or beginning a hobby, the initial phase is awkward and challenging. However, serial winners embrace this phase. They grind to prepare for competition and continue grinding during the competition. This relentless effort, though not always fun, leads to the ultimate joy of winning. To embark on something new and exciting, you must be willing to start at the bottom, endure being bad at it for a while, and patiently work towards improvement. Here are four methods winners use to stay motivated and keep progressing:
1. Measurement and Competition - Competition drives excellence. It forces you to focus, break through plateaus, and innovate. Whether competing against others or yourself, the drive to win keeps you engaged and continuously improving. Competition is a critical driver of improvement. It challenges you to push your limits, be creative, and continuously learn. When you compete, you gain insights about your strengths, weaknesses, and the environment you operate in. This self-awareness and external understanding fuel progress and prevent stagnation.
2. Learning from Winners - Seek guidance from those who have already succeeded. Emulating their methods and absorbing their wisdom accelerates your growth. Learning from successful people is crucial. Choose the right mentors—those who have genuinely achieved success. Avoid relying on "false prophets" who talk a good game but lack real achievements. Align yourself with true winners, even if it means facing intimidating comparisons. For example, instead of sporadic lessons, I chose to learn skiing from Phil Mahre, an Olympic gold medalist. The detailed and precise guidance I received significantly accelerated my improvement. While learning from established winners is essential, don’t overlook the potential insights from less experienced individuals, colleagues, or even competitors. Innovation often comes from fresh perspectives. The tech industry, for example, thrives on ideas from students and young professionals. Maintain an open mind and be willing to learn from anyone who offers valuable insights.
3. Putting Your Own Twist on It - After mastering the fundamentals, personalize your approach.  Don’t just copy every move of your role models. Instead, let your personality and creativity shine through. This natural progression from imitation to innovation keeps you engaged and allows you to develop unique solutions and strategies. Innovation keeps you engaged and allows you to develop unique strategies for success.
4. Working Better - Continuously refine your processes and work habits to increase efficiency and effectiveness. To maintain focus and drive, limit distractions and eliminate time-wasters. What matters is not where you currently are but where you’re headed. Serial winners stay focused on their goals, continually working towards improvement and minimizing distractions.

Become a Serial Winner – The Cycle Continues

Shortly before his passing, I had the privilege of a long conversation with Bob Turley, a legend in the world of baseball. With eight years and eight World Series wins with the New York Yankees, Bob had spent his life surrounded by winners across various fields—sports, business, entertainment, and politics. From Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle to seven different U.S. presidents, Bob's life was a testament to excellence. When I asked him what set the greats apart from everyone else, his response was surprisingly simple and profoundly insightful.

a.The Humble Giants

Bob revealed that none of these legendary figures thought they were exceptionally good. Despite their fame and accomplishments, they were generally humble. This humility drove them to constantly work on improving themselves, probably because they didn’t believe they had reached their peak.

b. Passion Beyond Measure

Another common trait among these winners was their immense love for what they were doing. They seemed to love it just a little bit more than everyone else. This passion fueled their relentless drive to excel and continually push their limits.

"Serial Winner" is a call to action. It equips you with the tools and strategies to break the cycle of mediocrity and step into a world of continuous achievement. By internalizing the "Cycle of Winning" – Decide, Overdo, Adjust, Finish, and Keep Improving – you too can become a serial winner. Remember, success is a journey, not a one-time event. Embrace the ongoing cycle, and watch your achievements stack up!