You want to win.  Period.  Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this article.  The problem is winning doesn’t come easy.  But what if there was a simple strategy to help you take back huge realms of your life?

It’s called offense.  One of the reasons you may be struggling right now is because you’ve slipped into defensive mode and you’re not taking any new ground.  It happens to all of us at one time or another.

For example, when I was younger, my brother and I went to a Chuck E. Cheese grand opening.  They gave out FREE golden tokens for all of the games.  So we decided not to play any games.  Instead we went around all night collecting tokens.  You can probably guess what happened?  That’s right, we never went back!  For years we found the game tokens all throughout our bedrooms- in drawers, under our beds, in a corner on the floor….visible reminders of our missed opportunities!

We’re not alone!  8 out of 10 employees surveyed in the U.S said they could work harder on their job.  So we’re not talking about a rare virus, we’re talking about an epidemic.  People are underperforming.  Probably not just at work, but in every area of their lives.  We all signed up for full-throttle living, but somewhere along the way we let up.

Why does this happen?  Simple.  If you are afraid of losing, you go into defensive mode and forget all about offense.  Before you know it, you’re just trying to stay alive.  You enter survival mode and forget all about winning mode.

It’s true of people who consider going back to college.  People who think about pursuing their own business.  People who consider taking their marriage or parenting to the next level.  Whenever you pass up on opportunities to grow because it’s the safest thing to do, a part of your soul dies.  Period.

On the other side of the equation, the people who succeed aren’t always the most talented, but they are committed.  Every time you look at the best selling books in Walmart, you’re not looking at the greatest writers in the world, you’re looking at those who were most persistent!  Success equals persistent offense.  You can have the greatest product in the world but people aren’t going to beat a path to your door.  You have to keep taking continual steps in the right direction.

Put a placard on your desk or change your screensaver.  Write something inspiring like: “Quitters never win and winners never quit.”  Develop a ‘whatever it takes attitude’.  Find a person or two to cheer you on.  Join a group.  Phone a friend.

Today, take 5 minutes and ask yourself, “Is there an area of life where I’m just not putting forth the effort anymore?”  While your at it, ask yourself, “What’s one thing I can do today to get closer to achieving my goals?”

Whatever you do, start playing offense again.  Instead of trying to keep the opponent out of your end zone, storm theirs.  You don’t want to drink a cup of regrets at the end of your game, do you?