Dr. Denis Waitley believes that there is A WINNER’S EDGE, away of viewing life that is the critical attitude for success. The object of his book with this title is to provide the reader with the most critical and important elements that develop and sustain an attitude toward life that results in success for the individual.
It contains, in my opinion, practical insights into experiences and time-tested attitudes for success, which are applicable whether you are abusiness executive, mechanic, professional, homemaker, parent, athlete,or student. It is for you if you have never really succeeded, if you just want more of the same success you now enjoy, or if you have made it,lost it, and would like to get it again and keep it.
WINNING has a new definition for individuals and organizations in the game of life. It used to mean beating the others and being Number One. Winning signified standing victoriously over a fallen adversary — “the survival of the fittest.” As we entered the 21stcentury, it is obvious that the very nature of “winning” has changed.
THE DOUBLE WIN
Dr. Waitley believes that the real winners in the present and future world arena will be more often the champions of “cooperation,” rather than the champions of“competition.” While power to maintain access to resources will continue to prevail, “the survival of the fittest” philosophy will give way to what Jonas Salk describes as the “survival of the wisest” philosophy of understanding, cooperation, and reason.
The “Win-Lose” playbook that suggests that there must be a loser forevery winner, that winning by intimidation is fashionable is obsolete.The “Win-Win” playbook is the only one that can endure. “Win-Win” means: “If I help you win, then I win too!” The real winners in life getwhat they want by helping others get what they want. Independence has been replaced by interdependence. “There are too many people, too few resources, and too delicate a balance between nature and technology to produce winners in isolation today.”
Dr. Waitley emphatically proclaims that there will be no lasting peace on earth until there is a “piece of pie” in every mouth. “It is the expectation of tomorrow’s bigger, better pie,from which everyone will taste a larger piece, that prevents people fromcompeting and struggling to the end over the division of today’s pie.”
He admonishes thus:“Aseager students in the art of winning our individual games of life, we must, at the onset, face the inescapable fact that we as individuals are avital but single organ of a larger body of human beings in the world. Theone cannot succeed, or even survive for long anymore, without the others.”
WHO ARE THE WINNERS?
Winners, in the opinion of Dr. Waitley, are those individuals who in a very natural, free-flowing way seem to consistently get what they want from life by providing valuable service to others. They put themselves together across the board — in their personal, professional, and community lives.
They set and achieve goals that benefit others as well as themselves. You do not have to get lucky to win at life, nor do you have to knock other people down or gain at the expense of others.
Winning is taking the talent or potential you were born with, and have since developed, and using it fully toward a purpose that makes you feel worthwhile according to your own internal standards. Happiness, then,is the natural byproduct of living a worthwhile life. It is not a goal to be chased after or sought.
Happiness is the natural experience of winning your own self-respect,as well as the respect of others. Happiness should not be confused with indulgence, escapism, or hedonistic pleasure-seeking. You cannot drink,inhale, or snort happiness. You cannot buy it, wear it, drive it, swallow it,inject it, or travel to it! Happiness is the journey, not the destination. “Aselusive as a butterfly, happiness comes only to those who feel it without chasing it.”
THE WINNER’S EDGE
There seems to be only a fine line between the top five percent of thereal achievers, the real winners in society, and the rest of the pack. Dr. Waitley callsthis fine line of demarcation “the Winner’s Edge.”
In the Olympic Games, thedifference between the gold-medal winner in the 100-meter dash in track and the fourth-place non-medal winner is often only two-tenths of a second.
What is true on the athletic field of competition seems also to hold true in every other walk of life. The real leaders in business, in the professional community, in education, in government, and in the home also seem to draw upon a special cutting edge that separates them from the rest of society. This cutting edge can be measured in inches, tenths of a second, ounces, pennies, or degrees. “When we speak of degrees, we are not speaking of educational degrees. We are speaking of degrees of persistence, degrees of effectiveness, and degrees of positive awareness.”
The Winner’s Edge is not in a gifted birth, a high IQ, or in talent.Talent is cheap; you can buy it and recruit it, and it is everywhere. The world is full of talented alcoholics. The Winner’s Edge is not in education. Education is not cheap, but it is for sale and for hire if youhave the time and the money. You can get your B.Sc., M.B.A. or Ph.D. and panel your den with diplomas, but the world is full of educated derelicts unable to relate to supportive roles with others. The Winner’s Edge is all in the attitude! Not aptitude; attitude is the criterion for success. Butyou cannot buy an attitude for any amount of money. Attitudes are not for sale.
GREATNESS OUT OF ADVERSITY
All individuals are not born equal. Some are cursed and some are blessed with their hereditary uniforms. Equality is not nature’s way. Theequal right to become unequal by choice seems to be the natural cycle.All environments do not breed and nurture the winning spirit. Yet, howoften we are witness to living examples of greatness that spring out of adversity.
Some individuals are born with much more going for them: Theycome from wealthy parents, beautiful parents, talented, or intelligent parents. Many children have been encouraged and nurtured by winning parents, outstanding teachers, coaches, and friends who gave themfeelings of worthiness. But there is an amazing historical pattern that is almost contradictory, and that is the pattern that some of the offspringof the richest, most beautiful, most prominent and talented people have become losers, unable to live up to their heritage and unable to acceptthemselves or to perform effectively on their own.
This may be because they had so much going for them at the start that they developed noinner drive to take them forward. Yet, some children from the most backward, discouraging beginnings have grown into outstanding winners and top achievers in every walk of life. Attitude is the answer. Your attitude toward your potential is either the key to or the lock on the door of personal fulfillment.
In the studies of winners who have pulled themselves from relatively modest beginnings and who have remained at the top in their lives, this critical attitude for success seems to be the common denominator.Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Nelson Mandela, Golda Meir, and Margaret Thatcher all have been associated with early feelings of positive attitudes.
In the weeks that follow, this Winner’s Edge is separated and discussed into what Dr. Waitley considers to be its most critical elements: self-honesty; self-esteem;a creative self-image; positive self-expectancy; and self-dimension.
BY CAPTAIN SAM ADDAIH
RTD.
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