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Deserve to Win Mentality is the attitude that we have to bring to the table whenever we are trying to accomplish our goals or objectives. Earlier we touched on watching your attitude and your effort. This principle falls under that in a way. When you put forth effort, when you work very hard at something, when you give it your all, you put forth blood, sweat, and tears. This allows you to walk into a situation – whether it is an athletic event, the test you are taking, or the big presentation you are giving to a client – you have the mindset of; “I deserve to win and the reason I deserve to win is because I have prepared for this. I have prepared more than my opponent, more than the competition. I have prepared enough where this is my game to win.” That mindset is so important because we are our own worst enemy. Often, the reason we don’t hit our goal or objective is because we allow a little bit of doubt to creep into our mind. We continually ask ourselves, “Am I good enough? Am I ready? Did I prepare well enough?” If you work really hard, your effort can eliminate those doubts. When those doubts creep in, you can convince yourself that you do deserve to win because you have worked so hard toward your goal.

A great example in the coaching world is Rick Patino. He fostered a deserve to win mentality on his basketball teams. In his book, Success is a Choice he talked about how he convinced his basketball players that they worked harder than any other team in America. He did this by having his team practice 15 minutes longer than most teams did and those 15 minutes added up during the course of the season. Once, when the game was on the line, Patino took a time out and brought his team together. There were 30 seconds left on the clock and his team was down by one point. Patino reminded his players that they deserved to win because they worked harder than the other team and they deserved it. They deserved it more than their opponents did. Patino told his players to go out onto the court and make sure they got what they deserved. Sure enough, this reminder spurred the team on and gave them the right frame of mind. The lesson to take away from this story is that we control our attitude in this world. We control our effort.

Basically, you have to create the proper mindset. You have to convince yourself that you deserve to achieve your goal. You have to remind yourself that you worked hard, you put in the extra hours at work and you went the extra mile so you deserve to win.

A friend of mine is very successful in the financial services industry. He grew up in a very wealthy household, and his father was very successful. His father told all of his children that they needed to go blaze their own trail in the world and make their own mark. He also told them not to count on him for an inheritance because his money would all be left to charity. He said, “I’m doing this for your own good in life because if I don’t you will have that entitlement mentality.” So they worked hard for their whole lives. My friend went on to be very successful in the financial services industry. One of his siblings went on to become very successful in medicine and the others in their various pursuits – they all went on and did very well. Eventually, their father’s health was ailing, and so they all went back home to spend time with him.

“Hey Dad,” one of them said, “We have all been successful in our own right. We are putting your final affairs in order. Where do you want the money to go?”

“I want the money to go to you kids,” their father replied. “Remember that inheritance thing? I lied.”

That is a true story. The kids received the inheritance, but it was their father’s way of testing them. He wanted to make sure they grew up having the deserve to win mentality. Because the kids worked hard, they deserved their father’s inheritance.

We may not get the exact outcome that we expected, but if we work hard, good things happen. If we are in a deserving place good things happen. Sometimes bad things happen -perhaps there are storms along the way, but if we stay in that deserving place and go after our goal, it makes a difference.

One great way to get into this mindset is to state your outcome clearly and what you are currently doing to achieve that outcome. Make a list of what you are currently doing to achieve the outcome, what more you could be doing, and what tools, resources, and people you are using to your advantage.