Winning Expectations
The key to winning starts with the expectation to win. I highly doubt you'll hear any successful person say they achieved great success with the expectation to fail. Although I grew up in a rough neighborhood, I always envisioned myself being successful. My dad constantly reminded me that's it's not about where you come from, it's about how far you want to go. This made me realize that a winner can come from a losing environment as long as the right mindset is present. Some looked at living in a rough neighborhood as a reason to fail. I saw it as motivation to succeed. Not only did I want to succeed, I expected to succeed. As we transition from 2016 to 2017, we must enter the new year with the expectation to win. Although your environment might not change or remain the same for a certain period of time, your mindset and level of expectation has to. It's difficult to win with losing mindset, and it's hard to obtain an ocean of opportunities with cup full of expectations. In order to get more, we have to expect more. This needs to be our mindset as we approach the new year versus a "new year, new me" type of mindset. The only thing you may need to change about yourself is the way you think. Thinking positive thoughts can correct a negative mentality and a winning mindset can eliminate losing habits.
Developing a strong relationship with God is the foundation of creating a winning mindset. When you serve a winning God, you should always have winning expectations. As you continue to learn about God and he how works, you'll learn that he never fails and he won't put us in a position to do so. You'll also learn that God has our best interest in mind despite what we have in mind. Sometimes our vision of winning is different from God's. We may envision ourselves winning the Super Bowl with a undefeated record while God's plan has us winning the championship with an 8-8 record and losing a star player. We can't get discouraged when we face adversity or loss in 2017, because it's inevitable. The last time I checked, adversity doesn't mean you can't win. Earlier this year, I watched the Cleveland Cavaliers overcome a three loss and one win deficit to win their first NBA championship. Not only did this show me that you can win with the right effort and mindset, it also showed me that what's meant for you is meant for you. Despite what you face in the new year, remember that God has a winning and prosperous plan for your life and there's nothing that can interfere with that. This is why we should enter 2017 with the expectation to win. We serve a winning God that designed a winning plan for us long before birth.
Setting big goals is a significant part of creating a winning mindset. As we continue to develop our relationship with God, we'll learn to that we can never ask him for too much or something too big. God's blessings are limitless and he'll provide us anything that we ask for, if not more. If you desire to start a business or go back to school, ask God in faith to help you to achieve these goals. It's important to believe in what you pray for along with the one you are praying to. James 1:6-7 (New International Version) states “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” This is why our expectations are so important. We can't receive anything we ask for if we're doubting what we prayed for. Even if it's not on our timing. We have to remember that God's timing and vision is always better than ours. 2017 will be a year of winning if we have the right mindset and the right expectations!
