Speaker 1: 0:06

Welcome, welcome to Win it All. Wednesday, on the sweet spot where science meets the soul. Today we're talking about winning, not just in sports, business or competition, but in life. I'm Dr Derek Sweet. I'm a board-certified psychiatrist. I specialize in sports psychiatry and high performance, and today we're going to talk about winning and how you can be a winner no matter what you're going through.

Speaker 1: 0:38

Because, let's be real, everyone wants to win, but not everybody kind of knows how to win, and if they do, they don't always have the mindset to make it happen. So what separates winners from everyone else? Science gives us three clear answers. There are three psychological reasons people don't win, and I'm going to tell you how to fix them. The first reason people don't win is that they have something called the almost syndrome. This is from cognitive psychology. They kind of settle for good enough. A lot of people are one step away from greatness. I see this with athletes all the time. One step away from greatness, but they quit too soon. Studies show that when people almost succeed, they often lose motivation, thinking you know what? I got close, that's good enough for me, subconsciously. So how do you push past that almost syndrome?

Speaker 1: 1:53

Winners don't just aim for good. That's the first thing they aim for great, because good is the enemy of great in most winners' minds. When you feel like stopping, that's when you dig in, that's when you go deeper, that's when you don't get fatigued and you don't let the external circumstances dictate to you what's happening. You have to impose your will, as the ancient scriptures said. You cannot grow weary in doing what you're doing, especially if it's good, because there's going to come a time, a proper time, where you will be reaping the harvest of what you have put in if you didn't give up right. So that's the important piece of it, that even in the ancient scriptures, you have this unctioning, this urging in galatians for you to go forward, to not grow weary in doing what you have to do. So, yeah, the almost uh syndrome is you have to watch for that, don't settle for good.

Speaker 1: 3:06

The second reason people don't win is that they have a fear, believe it or not, of outshining other people. This is from social psychology research. There's a fear of outshining others, believe it or not. Some people actually hold back from winning because they're afraid of making somebody else uncomfortable, and psychologists call this you're going to love this term the tall poppy syndrome, the fear of standing out. How do you get past this tall poppy syndrome that I don't want to be so big, so important, because I don't want Joe or Mary to be upset or feel bad.

Speaker 1: 3:45

The way you get out of that is to understand that your own greatness matters. Your success matters. Your success does not take away from others. It actually should inspire them and show them what's possible. Winners inspire others. They don't diminish others, and that's what makes you a winner.

Speaker 1: 4:06

So don't lose. Don't set yourself on fire so that somebody else can stay warm. Makes no sense, all right. So what have we talked about so far? The reasons people don't win, right? We talked about this whole almost right, the almost syndrome and what to do about that. We then also just spoke about this fear about shining others syndrome.

Speaker 1: 4:28

So what's the third reason, my friend? What is the third reason people do not win? The comfort of familiarity. Believe it or not, according to neuroscience and behavioral science, our brains love routine. They just love routine, and even when that routine is going to keep you from winning, your brain is going to love it and say listen, this is a great routine, this is what you know. Keep doing this. It feels good and it will keep you from winning, because your routine is comfortable. Your routine is safe.

Speaker 1: 5:07

But there's a saying ships in the harbor are not built for that. They're not safe. They're not really safe. Ships are built to sail. So you want growth and you want discomfort. Winning requires that you sail. It requires that you have growth and discomfort. So if you're not uncomfortable, you're not growing and therefore you may not be winning. So the solution is obvious Winners train their brains to embrace the challenge.

Speaker 1: 5:38

If something scares you, it probably means you should do it. So don't conform to the pattern of this world, which is to just stay safe and be in a routine, but be transformed by the constant challenging and renewing of your mind. That's ancient wisdom from Romans, just again reminding you that you never get to what you want by not or by being afraid to cross the bridge called fear, because it's on the other side of fear that your rewards and everything that you want is awaiting you all right, right now. Thank you so much for listening. This is Dr Derek Sweet. You've been listening here to Win it All Wednesday what it takes to be a winner. So if you want to learn more, please join me on TikTok, on Instagram, on LinkedIn, on Threads and on YouTube. Take care, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow for Thursday's episode. What do we call Thursday? That's right, it is Trust Yourself Thursday. See you then, peace.