The art of winning

CEBU, Philippines – Here have been several books, by different experts, on the art of winning. Some call it a technology; others prefer to view it as strategy. But all agree that it is the way to the top, to attaining success.

And there's the conventional way of attaining success. It's a wisdom passed on from generation to generation, for already a long time. And it's no secret at all.

The website www.dreamitalive.com says that success is literally waiting to flood everyone's life. The only thing to be done is to tear down the so-called "success obstructions" holding one back from winning. These hindrances are quite familiar: fearing failure, making excuses, and beating oneself up.

Fearing failure. It's not a dead end when failure happens - it's a step forward. Too many people run into a tiny bit of failure, and they think they're done forever. They give up immediately, never realizing how close they were to achieving their goals. They take failure personally, and that's the problem. They think it means something's wrong with them. But the truth is, failure is part of the journey to success.

Making excuses. A good example is Steve Jobs. He never made excuses. When things went wrong, he didn't blame other people. He didn't refuse to accept responsibility for his own mistakes. He didn't try to justify his poor choices. Steve Jobs didn't make excuses because he understood that failure is going to happen. He understood too that failure is not the end of the road - it's one step on the road to success.

Beating oneself up. If Steve Jobs had the habit of yelling at himself, saying that he was dumb, or lazy, or any of the other million insults other people tell themselves - he would not have amounted to anything. Successful people don't beat themselves up. They understand that taking their anger out on themselves only pushes their goals farther away. They still get upset, sure, but they channel those emotions into constructive energy. They use that energy as jet fuel to reach their goals.

Success is almost a certain destiny. Almost - because one has to do his or her part to make it happen. The part one needs to do is to acquire the virtues of determination, persistence and smart hardwork.  Native talent or supreme intelligence is no match to any of these virtues.

Determination. The new Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach only got the Binibining Pilipinas title, her ticket to the Miss Universe contest, on her third time of joining the local pageant. If she was not determined enough to get higher, she would have given up after failing on her first attempt. She would just have opted to devote herself to the kitchen, having had finished her studies in culinary arts.

Persistence. Miss Wurtzback didn't cow out after missing the Binibining Pilipinas crown the first time around. She continued improving her skills, her knowledge and herself. Then she joined the contest again. And, again, she missed the crown.

To any ordinary mortal, two misses at the same shot would have been enough of an honorable reason for giving up. Not for Miss Wurtzback. She knew what she wanted, and wouldn't stop short from achieving it.

Pia Wurtzbach joined the Binibining Pilipinas yet the third time around. At the time she was probably ready to try for two or three more times until her age would disqualify her from the contest.  But this time around, she won.

Smart hard work. Sometimes, hard work alone gets one there. But Pia Wurtzbach was preparing her head for the ultimate crown… so she got smarter, concentrating her efforts on further training, especially in areas she felt yet a little unconfident about. She had sought a lawyer to coach her on answering possible pageant questions. She practiced innumerable long hours on her walk and poses.

And so she wins. Pia Wurztback is now Miss Universe. The age-old success formula proves right, again!

The art of winning is, definitely, not rocket science. That is why it is art, not science. The same amount of effort is not guaranteed to yield the same degree of success, at least not every time. But it works, no question about it.