Losing is good

I'm sure that you don't have to be reminded what it feels like to lose...However life, and circumstances cannot help us at times and we are unable to win. There are those times when we've gotten so arrogant and pompous that we forget what it is that helped us get into our successful position I therefore say - Kudos for losing. When we lose, it should easily hit us that either we've not prepared properly, or we over anticipated what we had hoped our result would have been. It may be also understood that when you lose, there may be some lesson in there for us to learn, whether that lesson is how to plan better next time, how to deal with losing, how to use the loss and a motivational tool to overcome the next step.

Maybe this is over the top, lets look at an example, your favourite cricket team runs into the stadium and it is the home turf. Immediately as they all appear this is an uproar in the stadium with all of those home fans. Of course the visiting team gets a welcome as well but not as enthusiastic. So the games begin and each time the home team gets the lead the visitors seem to have the key to get a come-back. As it gets closer to the finish the fans cheer on, supporting the home team, the pressure builds, the flags raise and there is the sure victory. Then by some element of surprise as if knowing the home team's strategy, the visitors clench the game and everyone else is disappointed that the home team loses. What does that feel like?

I say in this case, this should drive the homeboys to go back to the drawing board. Or moreso like an exerpt I saw recently... "Overnight Success - Those that want strong and healthy teeth tomorrow should brush their teeth very well today, successful people work while others rest, they study while others sleep, they take action while others observe..."(read more) We all know that there is the need to celebrate our victories but then we may go overboard and a recent loss wakes us out of our slumber. Back to the homeboys losing the cricket game, the guys may be tempted to go around blaming everyone and everything for our loss. We know how true it is, now imagine how it feels to lose US$6 Million, whether its money or a game or a competition the first thing we should look at is ourselves and how effective was our calculated approach.

Anyway - when you lose one should:

a) Forget about who you think is to be blamed and work on improving next time. Remember the time spent on the blame game could be used to move you to your lesson or next goal faster.

b) Admit the loss, and admit you want to win

c) Plan to win next time, feel the victory and stealthily work towards it. Even if you don't tell everyone what your next step is (which is sometimes a good thing) work feverishly on it.

d) Losing does not mean that you are a failure. You become a failure if you give up.

e) Share with someone who loses your path to overcoming the loss and how to get back into winning. They'll thank you for it later, maybe losing wasn't only for you to learn something but to share the experience with someone else...Do Not Be Selfish.

Here's a quote, some of you may know...
Second Place is the First Loser...