December 2009 | Bigg Success

Monthly Archives: December 2009

4 Signs You are Playing to Win

Written on December 14, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Personal Growth

win Sporting events are a great microcosm of the games we all play. So we can take some great lessons away from them.

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One of those lessons is playing to win. Now you may be thinking that this seems kind of silly. You may be asking, “Doesn’t everybody play to win?”

The answer is a resounding “No”!

The underdog syndrome

Have you ever watched a team that wasn’t “supposed” to win? They were the underdogs.

But they get the lead. They may be as surprised as everybody else. And that’s when it happens …

They stop playing to win; they start playing to “not lose”.

Is there a difference? The answer to that question is a bigg “Yes”!

Just like great teams, we need to play to win if we’re going to win bigg. Here are 4 traits of people who play to win:

Make winning your goal

This may sound crazy to you at first. But bear with us.

Many people start out with a goal of winning. But as they inch closer and closer to the success they desire, their goal changes. They’re doing better than they ever imagined. So they get nervous. Their goal shifts to “not losing”.

It’s not a conscious thing. But you can see it in their actions, in their faces, and in their demeanor. And it’s ironic – the more they try not to lose, the more likely they are to lose.

Put yourself on the edge

You’ll never succeed bigg if you don’t take some risks.

But what if you’re winning the game? Some people stop taking the risks that brought them so far.

They become too risk-averse, thinking that playing it conservative will help them preserve their lead.

It’s true that, by definition, taking a risk doesn’t always pay off. But never taking a risk will never pay off!

You have to put yourself out there. You have to be willing to make mistakes. Learn from them. Recover from them. And keep playing to win!

Be confident you will win

Some people think they can win. Winners know they will win!

Even when things aren’t going their way, they’re not troubled. They keep playing the game they came to play.

Sure, they’ll make some adjustments. They may change up their offense – or their defense – or both. But they keep on pushing.

There is no doubt they’re going to win. It’s just a matter of time!

Get in “the zone”

People who win don’t think; they do.

They do what they’ve prepared to do. Their body, mind, and spirit all reach a state of “flow” because they are thoroughly prepared.

They go through the motions, but they aren’t just going through the motions. These motions flow up from deep within them because they’ve mastered their game.

Meanwhile, the people who are playing to “not lose” are busy thinking. Their self-talk isn’t the same as the people playing to win.

They’re worrying about mistakes. They’re punishing themselves every time something doesn’t go their way. They’re over-thinking and over-reacting.

So how does the game usually end?
People who play to win … win. They become a bigg success!

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Thanks so much for the gift of your time today.

Next time, we’ll extend this theme: Losers focus on money; winners focus on _____. Please join us next time when we’ll fill in the blank. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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(Image in today's post by arte ram)

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Cars as Investments – Fuzzy Dice or Fuzzy Logic

Written on December 10, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Money

fuzzy_dice On a recent show, we discussed the best investment you can make right now. We highlighted some places you might not normally think of as investments:

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Hear George & Mary-Lynn discuss today's topic on The Bigg Success Show! Click the player to listen while you read: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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paying down debt

investing in durable goods like cars and appliances

buying non-perishables you use every day when you can get a real deal

making your home more energy efficient

We concluded, though, that the best investment you can make right now – or anytime for that matter – is you.

One of our regular listeners, who is also a friend of ours, took exception to us classifying cars as an investment. Tim Noice said:

“I can’t say that I personally have ever found a vehicle and an investment synonymous. Even though there are extraordinarily good deals on vehicles right now, one must keep in mind the possible increase in such costs as: insurance, taxes (on the purchase), loan interest cost, cost of new fuzzy dice, and of course, an increase in gas consumption due to the desire to drive more. This new purchase could however negate future repair costs.”

All we can say is: That’s a great point, Tim!

We agree with Tim that it’s usually fuzzy logic to think of a car as an investment. Most new cars depreciate rapidly in the first couple of years.

We should have explained ourselves more. We left out some important details. Fortunately, Tim filled them in for us!

He did a great job of listing the things you should consider when buying a car – right down to the fuzzy dice!

Timing the purchase … or … Don’t do what we did

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marylynn George, you waited as long as you could before buying our last car. You literally drove our old one to death; it had to be towed away!

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george If only there was a Cash for Clunkers program back then!

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marylynn When we bought our new car – I’ve had monthly car payments before – it came with a monthly subscription to OnStar. So there are costs to think about even beyond the actual purchase.

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george Vehicles were an essential part of the service businesses I was in before we started Bigg Success. I always bought into the mindset that it was better to buy used vehicles and keep them as long as you could. One year, I was flabbergasted at how much we spent on repairs. I talked with other business owners in similar businesses. We developed a rotation plan to keep new vehicles coming into our fleet. Man, what a difference that made to our bottom line!

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This is the type of situation we were thinking about when we classified cars as an investment – someone with an older car (and repair bills starting to stack up) that they’re thinking of replacing in the next couple of years. Right now, you may still be able to get a deal so good that it’s worth going ahead instead of waiting.

We’ve said before, and we’ll say it here again, every dollar you spend is an investment. Some return money. Others return happiness. Some return nothing.

Think about the return you want from all your purchases – weighed against the costs of doing nothing (i.e. not making the purchase) – and you’ll be a bigg success!

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