The best defense is offence – whether your arena is the office or the field, the meeting room or the court. Both the business and sporting world share a common goal – the will to win. Learning how to be more productive, progressive and ultimately successful is what we strive for.

They say that opportunity only knocks once. And if opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. I disagree. I believe we as a community already have the tools to build successes from opportunities that are right in front of us.

It’s time to influence opportunity and make it knock again and again.

It’s common to take what we have for granted. Studies have shown 85% of adults in the Western world suffer from low self-esteem or chronic self-doubt. People often think about what they can’t do or what they don’t have instead of what they do possess. It’s time to realign and change that.

1. Don’t wait for chances; take them

Woman wearing a yellow tank top and black tights is doing a jump squat. Fitness-Jump Squats-Workout-Woman
Don’t put off your squats for too long. Your performance will suffer.

There is rarely a perfect time to do anything and procrastination plagues us all, but planning can prevent poor performance and outcomes.

I’ve pushed back on preparing reports at work or doing my morning squats and tried to start them too late in the day. Let’s just say in both cases, I didn’t get the desired effect.

Taking the bull by the horns and getting the hard-to-dos completed earlier, gives me a sense of accomplishment for the rest of the day. If I’m honest with myself, I know I do my best work before 3pm and starting a workout at 11:30 at night… forget it!

2. Change losses into teachable moments

We all make mistakes and experience ups and downs; the important thing is to grow from them whether they are your mistakes or other people’s.

‘Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn,’ is something I’ve heard from my coaches and mentors for years. Having a healthy relationship with winning and failure is key and as a consultant, business owner and father, this is one of my favourite mantras.

Personally, one of my biggest learnings has been the importance of seeking new connections and asking for help.

Developing talent and networking effectively helps personal growth outside of those dangerous comfort zones.

Three young men standing in a team huddle and are concentrated listening to their coach. career, success, adidas, GamePlan A, personal growth, attitude, motivation, Sports team-huddle-motivational speech
It’s important to have a healthy relationship with winning and losing.

3. Acknowledge the process

Positive results and incremental improvements come from great people driving forward and building relationships.

Recognise good work, the effort you put in and the small wins along the way. When I stopped looking for a sign or a reason to start my business, I realised the clues had been there for a long time.

Realising your purpose and matching your personal values with what you do is part of the journey.

Often when I speak at events, I ask the audience about their dreams and if they have an aspiration or business idea. Almost everyone’s hand goes up. When I ask who has acted on their idea, most of the hands drop down.

A man doing an animal walk workout at the beach without wearing a t-short. career, success, adidas, GamePlan A, personal growth, attitude, motivation, Animal workout-beach-fitness-man-muscles
Set your goals and use a clear process to stay focused.

Here’s a little test, close one eye right now and you’ll notice your nose. It’s been there all along but you’ve just learned to ignore it. You don’t have to start focusing on your nose but if you don’t notice that, what else are you ignoring that’s hiding in plain sight?

4. Feel more

Attitude is more important than IQ. I’ve had to ignore the impulse to quit many times and keep going to make breakthroughs. Use what you have and who you are as a platform. Perceptions change but you don’t have to.

Since the last industrial revolution, young entrepreneurial minds and creators have been discouraged to build on their ideas. Educational institutions often err on the side of caution and tell us to conform while learning and choosing a career. Today the ambitious are no longer rogues. The barriers to entry are lower than ever before and the successful creator story is being told daily – don’t ignore it.

Are you following the signs and winning your own personal race? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below.

30 COMMENTS

Please take note of the commenting guidelines.
You will receive an email to approve your comment.
Please take note of the commenting guidelines.
You will receive an email to approve your comment.

Thanks for your comment

You will receive an email to approve your comment. It will only appear after your confirmation.

Okay

Oh no! An unexpected error occurred.

Try again
by Alex Ahom 21.08.2018
I feel so fortunate to share my experiences with you the community. Let's keep the conversation going in the comments and stay in touch. I'd love to hear everyone's views on how to take more control of life.
Reply
by Alessandra C 21.08.2018
I wish more people would see that mindset is more important that IQ. Good story 😁
Reply
by Alex Ahom Alessandra C 21.08.2018
With the right mindset Alessanra I feel nothing is impossible.
Reply
by Alex Ahom Alessandra C 21.08.2018
With the right mindset Alessandra, nothing is impossible.
Reply
by Shhared Team 21.08.2018
"Positive results and incremental improvements come from great people driving forward and building relationships." Building authentic relationships are sooo important in a collaborative and progressive environment. Going to share this around tomorrow. - AE
Reply
by Alex Ahom Shhared Team 21.08.2018
Thanks team
It's all love
Reply
by Max 21.08.2018
Love it Alex. Take chances, learn from negative experiences and feel more resonate massively. We are not victims of our circumstances but the creators of them. Embrace that and go create.
Reply
by Alex Ahom Max 21.08.2018
Thanks Max! You do realise I'm going to use that.... "We are not victims of our circumstances but the creators of them." Great input.
Reply
by Misel 21.08.2018
Great article, very true stuff. Particularly agree with the point regarding mindset - it’s all about attitude and belief!
Reply
by TL 21.08.2018
Nice article. Thanks for sharing.
Reply
by Alex Ahom TL 23.08.2018
No problem, I enjoyed sharing it.
Feel free to keep the sharing going and share it with your community.
Reply
by B 21.08.2018
This has given me a great idea
Reply
by Alex Ahom B 23.08.2018
Love that 😁 the impact is what it's all about.
Reply
by P Fanccio 21.08.2018
Thanks mate, cool read. It is so important to get rid of self doubt. No?
Reply
by Alex Ahom P Fanccio 28.08.2018
Something we all struggle with but there are solutions.
Reply
by Flo 22.08.2018
Such a great article - very intuitive and a lot of helpful advice. I love the mantra “sometimes you win and sometimes you learn”
Definitely motivates one to follow their entrepreneurial dreams
Reply
by Alex Ahom Flo 28.08.2018
You got any mantras for me?
Reply
by Nathan Laryea 22.08.2018
Ditto on sometimes you win and sometimes you learn- a great quote I will be stealing. This article has shed light on a lot of my history and is starting to make sense of things I’d still been hung up on. Thank you! Exactly what I needed to read today. Both a win and a learn.
Reply
by Alex Ahom Nathan Laryea 28.08.2018
Thanks Nathan.... glad to help 😊
Reply
by MA 29.08.2018
🔥🔥🔥
Reply
by Mis 29.08.2018
Nice article keep going!
Reply
by EM 29.08.2018
Love the fact that this isn’t just for sports stars but also relatable entrepreneurs and creatives as well. Hope to see more of you. What’s next after all this writing?
Reply
by Alex Ahom EM 30.08.2018
Thanks for the ❤️.

What's next is always a great question. I'm progressive so I want to do more in the community, make an impact and be involved in ground breaking sustainable projects.
Reply
by franky B 09.09.2018
This a great article, I loved it , I'm agree totally 100% about how important is read the signs.

Thank for sharing it
Reply
by Peter Nelson 21.10.2018
I can really can relate to these signs of getting s#*! done and I believe that positivity and attitude plays the biggest part in all of that. You truly get back what you put out, and the only limitation are your own thoughts. If you have a positive and confident mindset you are able to achieve anything and you will be able to build strong relationships. People should be encouraged to fail and as a society we should be doing more to be courageous for others and help develop a positive culture. Great article, love it.
Reply
by Sathish Kumar 18.12.2018
Very inspiring mate. 👍
Reply
by Will 19.02.2019
Great content.
Reply
by Alex Ahom Will 12.04.2019
Thanks for the feedback Will. Do you have nay tips?
Reply
by Alonso Lozano 26.04.2019
How disciplined is your mental toughness? When working out to the MAX, you tend to have better outcomes in other branches of life. That's an AMRAP Mentality.
Reply
by Alonso Lozano 23.05.2019
Every day is a constant fight against myself. But I've learned to incline that fight towards greatness. Thank you, Alex... amazing article.
Reply