Vince Lombardi said it best... What it takes to be Number 1

In honor of the Packers being in the Super Bowl this year, I thought I would post one of my favorite writings on the mentality of a winner: 

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE NUMBER 1

Winning is not a sometimes thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.

Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. you've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.

It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.

And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

I don't say these things because I believe in the "brute" nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.

-Vince Lombardi

This piece sums up the winner's mentality perfectly.  The mentality of a winner is a habit, and it doesn't happen by chance.  It happens after fought battles, grinding out everything you can to win and coming out victorious.  If your habits are not winning habits, you can change them.

There are always those teams/people who play to win and there are those who play not to lose.  There is a huge paradigm shift there.  One is a very offensive mentality, the other very defensive.  If you want something bad enough, you must go for it with passion and energy.  You can't sit on your heels and hope something good happens.  While you're waiting for it to happen, someone else is making it happen.  Abraham Lincoln said it best.."Good things come to those who wait, but only the things left over from those who hustle."

The part that hits home the most with me are the last two paragraphs.  You have to appreciate the grind and the discipline of becoming successful.  You have to expect it, embrace it and want it.  You can never grow as a person or a leader if there are no obstacles to overcome.  That experience will help you guide and direct others through the same experiences and help you lead them more effectively.  The discipline you learn with each trial will help guide you through each obstacle in the future.  

So go out each day with the intention and mentality of coming off the field victorious.  There is no greater feeling.