Ya Wanna Be A Winner Or A Loser?
The pro avoids mistakes while the amateur assumes the mistakes are part of the game.
In today's edition of Burke's Bits:
Win or Lose ... Your Mindset Matters
Copy Tip
Social Selling Tip
From the Research Files
Pun of the Day
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The Winning Mindset Isn’t What You Think It Is
In 2012 an old friend invited me to join his pool team.
I hesitated.
Up until this point the matches I played were in pool halls and while I won my share of games, I wasn't a good sport - neither a good loser or a good winner. I didn't play well with others. I was always out to win and wasn't nice about it.
He said he'd help me get past that - he needed me on his team. I said Yes and started my journey to being a winner.
Between my friend and the captain who stepped up to coach me on sportsmanship, I became known the nicest person at the pool hall.
Then it was time to improve my game - to be a respected winner.
We had extraordinary players in the league. High ranked players at the national level. Players who also were nice to be around.
I had conversations with them - asked them about their mindset. Each had a very similar approach to the game.
And it boiled down to this: Get good enough that you can wait for your opponent to make a mistake.
A year or so passed. I was winning more individual matches, more tournaments, was winning my way to National tournaments held in Las Vegas, had players approach me to be on their doubles or triples team for tournaments. And I was still called the nicest person in the pool hall. I was getting the hang of this mindset - play my game and wait for them to make the mistake.
A few years ago I read this piece online and saw how well it articulates my experience. I pass it on to you because it's more than a sports focused mindset. We often focus on trying to be brilliant, yet most of us get more mileage out of avoiding making stupid mistakes. Or, as one incredible thinker has been known to say...
It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.
Charlie Munger
Extraordinary Tennis Ordinary Players by Simon Ramo, a scientist and statistician.
The difference between a Winner's Game and a Loser's Game.
Players play by the same rules and scoring. They play on the same surface using similar equipment. The basic elements of the game are the same. The key insight Ramo gives is that between the amateur and the pro the games are fundamentally different.
Pros win points. Amateurs lose points.
“In expert tennis, about 80 percent of the points are won; in amateur tennis, about 80 percent of the points are lost. In other words, professional tennis is a Winner’s Game – the final outcome is determined by the activities of the winner – and amateur tennis is a Loser’s Game – the final outcome is determined by the activities of the loser. The two games are, in their fundamental characteristic, not at all the same. They are opposites.
…if you choose to win at tennis – as opposed to having a good time – the strategy for winning is to avoid mistakes. The way to avoid mistakes is to be conservative and keep the ball in play, letting the other fellow have plenty of room in which to blunder his way to defeat, because he, being an amateur will play a losing game and not know it.”
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Copy Tip
According to Drew Eric Whitman, writer of Cashvertising, there are 17 Foundational Principles of Consumer Psychology
I happen to agree with him - and I bet most of them you've never heard of...
For today's tip I'll share the 1st one:
The Fear Factor — Selling the Scare
Fact: Your dog could be the next victim of the horrible groomer’s noose! This hangman-like contraption is designed to keep Fluffy on the table while she’s getting her haircut. It’s perfectly safe—that is, if she doesn’t step off the edge! One wrong step and she’d snap her neck like an old-west bandit swinging from branches of the hangman’s tree.
The solution? Call Vanity ’n‘ Fur groomers, where we use loving kindness to beautify your doggie, never dangerous mechanical contraptions—like the groomer’s noose—that less-experienced groomers risk using everyday.
Bottom line: Fear sells. It motivates. It urges. It moves people to action. It drives them to spend money.
So, if you use this tactic be sure you position the experience vividly. The reader must feel the stress and fear associated with the experience.
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Social Selling Tip
Grow your network with fans, colleagues, and ideal buyers.
Fans - they will share your content, encourage you with engagement, stroke your ego when you're feeling low
Colleagues - they understand what you do and what you offer and this makes it easy for them to refer prospects
Ideal Buyers - so you can begin communicating your value to them by sharing your knowledge and wisdom about their industry
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From the Research Files
aka random bits of info you may or may not be able to use in your life
When a senior citizen wants to stay in their home...but
they're alone and lonely
the cost is increasing and their retirement funds are decreasing
they're open to having a roommate but don't know where to look
Senior Homeshares is an option.
An online housemate service specifically for older adults. They match elders who have extra room in their homes with elders on a fixed income who are looking for safe, affordable housing. Many of their users are empty-nesters, widows, or widowers, who may have an especially difficult time adapting to life alone.
How cool is this?! Very, if you ask me. Check them out for yourself - it might be just what Mom or Dad or Friend needs.
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Pun of the Day
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger.
Then it hit me.
With Gratitude --
Charlene Burke
"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."
~ Albert Einstein