7 QUALITIES OF CHAMPIONS

1. Passion
Champions pour themselves into what they do with enormous amounts of passion. Being passionate about various aspects of life is a choice that kindles self-motivation. Champions don't need anyone to give them inspiration to love their families and career. The motivation to succeed at home and at work comes from within. Success and achievement is an "inside job."

Your success will come from a personal choice to succeed by taking your passion and coupling it wisdom to depend on God's help and guidance to fulfill the mission you are here on earth to do. Every successful person will tell you that they have unbending love for what they're doing. A successful person never quits until he has  what he wants. He is also ready and willing to help others succeed because a champion is secure about who he is.

As passionate as a champion is, he also has the endearing qualities of compassion, kindness, good listening skills, and he is even-tempered. 

2. Self-discipline
One common denominator of champions is self-discipline. It is impossible to find a champion who does not practice self-discipline.

Self-discipline means doing things when they need to be done; taking action and following through on all activities, big or small, on the road to achievement. It means doing the things no one else wants to do because it's not convenient. Success means practicing self-discipline ad continuum.

A champion who practices self-discipline develops daily and weekly "To-Do" lists. It's not the most talented people that win the races of life, but those who want to win the most and who are most prepared, organized and follow through with a well-thought-out plan.

There are two categories of people: those who are proactive and those who are reactive. The individual who practices self-discipline within his action plan is a proactor while the one who procrastinates and "lets life happens to him" is a reactor. This may be a good time for you to explore who you are. To be proactive means to march toward the goal with a plan of action using self-discipline as a bridge to connect your dreams and reality.

3. Focus
The ability to concentrate on and complete a task is another quality and skill of a champion. There are so many things that will distract you, as  you journey from your dream to your destiny. It is so easy to lose focus and concentration as you move ahead to hit your goals.

Distractions steal our precious time. At home, some of the common distractions can be spending excessive time watching television. At work, meaningless or long-winded conversations in the lunchroom or around the corner can distract you from forward movement.

There isn't greater quality than the ability to persist at the task at hand until it is completed. Persistence requires the ability to focus. Develop the "postage stamp" philosophy. The stamp sticks to the envelope until it gets to the final destination and delivered. That's how you and I need to be. High achievers don't look left, right, or behind, but straight ahead until they reach the goal or completion of the task at hand.

Here's another school of thought: have you ever used a camera with a lens that allows you to focus on a specific image that you want to capture? The ability to focus the camera brings clarity to the picture. If a person refuses to develop focus, he is not different from a person who has the ability to focus his camera but will not do so. Turn from distractions that pull you away from your individual tasks and personal goals by developing the skill of focus.
 
4. Decisiveness
Champions are not careless about the decision they make. They know the goals they want. They make a plan to achieve them; they move forward taking full responsibility for the results of their decisions.

Champions pray for God's guidance on family and social issues, then express their values no matter the consequences or repercussions of their decisions. This can be very difficult to assimilate, but it is an admirable trait. Decisiveness is the quality of a champion. Do the research, decide what you're going to do, and then do it!

5. Dependability
Champions are highly dependable people. When a champion tells you he will be at work, a meeting, or your home at a certain time, you can set your watch by it. I require from all employees I hire for Soteria Group and from the business associations I have. No business can actually grow to its full potential without a dependable team.

Life is too short to have people "drive you crazy" by not keeping commitments or being dishonest. It is self-centred and inconsiderate to be late, to keep people waiting, or to say you'll be somewhere and then not show up. There is nothing more frustrating than when people are late or undependable.

If you want to bring immediate value to your stock as a person in your company or family, become a person of your word and do things when you're told to do them. I pride myself on getting things done as quickly as I'm asked to do them. It has helped me build a reputation with those for whom I offer services.

Dependability includes having your word be your bond. Be trustworthy. When you lose trust and credibility with people, you lose a fortune. It's difficult to restore trust once it's broken. Become trustworthy and dependable in your relationships and enjoy the benefits of a true champion.

6. Persistence
There are many times in life when you want to throw in the towel. The quality of persistence is what you'll need to hang on. Life, by its nature, can be and will have seasons of discouragement. Understand that life is a succession of seasons, some good, some very difficult. One of the most difficult things to do is to start over again when you failed in your attempt to succeed.

It is not a shameful thing to fall down or fail. If there is any shame, it should be when you refuse to stand up from the fall and learn a good lesson God wants to teach you. Always remember the finish line is ahead and attainable. The key in the old adage, which suggests that you get back on the horse as quickly as possible. Take sometime, if necessary to grieve whatever loss you mave experienced in "falling down," but remember this: excessive sulking leads to self-pity, which is terribly destructive. Advice yourself, move on as quickly as possible.

Every day there are stories about people who were ready to give up after a setback. Then, with one more try, they reached their goal. I believe persistence must be coupled with the quality of resilience, which is the ability to bend, but not break. It means to be able to take some bullets from the critics and still trudge forward.
History is replete with accounts of men and women whose unwavering persistence and resilience led to marvelous discoveries and achievements.

It takes faith to be convinced that the darkest hour of the night precedes the daylight. When it looks bleakest, that's the time to forge ahead. Don't quit! When all seems lost, keep going: you may be few steps to fulfilling your destiny. Persistence is the oil that lubricates the wheels of a champion.

7. Humility
This may be the rarest quality found in champions. Webster defines humility as the act of being unpretentious, lowly, not prideful. It is one of the most difficult challenges of life. It's difficult not to get "a big head" when the world is patting you on the back. Don't forget that God hates pride and He will not allow you to wallow in it for a long time. I need to remind myself, and perhaps you, too: "Pride comes before the banana peel."

I challenge myself daily to see others as better than myself. A true champion doesn't need to prove himself to anyone but God, and himself. Humility is the very opposite of conceit. Conceit is the only disease that makes everyone sick except the carrier. 

There are few traits that are attractive as humility. No one needs to tell you what a turn-off it is to hear someone blowing his own horn and bragging. 

Ask yourself which of the qualities you've read are the ones you possess. Then ask yourself which ones you need to attain that will help you become who you need to be to fulfill your purpose. You have to become a person prepared for success before you can make it happen. As you continue in your journey to success island, don't ask, "What am I getting out of this life?" Rather  ask yourself, "What am I becoming?" Develop these seven qualities and it will be a matter of time, you'll fulfill the purpose why God created you.