Are You Playing to Win or Playing not to Lose?

During the last Soccer World Cup held in Germany, my favorite team Brazil played against France in the quarter-final. Brazil was the favorites, not only because they were the 5-times World Champions, but because they had the most awesome attacking threat in world football. A win for Brazil should have been a mere formality considering the odds facing France.

The reality is that France won that game, and no-one can claim that they didn't deserve it, even though some may argue that they were lucky to have even made it that far, since they barely scraped through their earlier matches.

So the question arises, how did a French team that didn't have the quality of players that the Brazilians had, do the "impossible" and win the match?

The answer is simple, yet profound. The Brazilians, despite all their attacking threat, remembered an earlier World Cup in France, when they were beaten in the Final by this same French team. So that defeat weighed heavily on their minds, and they were determined not to let it happen again. So their minds were not set on winning, but were rather set on "not losing".

France on the other hand, had only one thing on their mind, "winning". Everything they did was focused on that one goal. And they had one other thing that worked to their advantage. They too remembered their great win against the Brazilians. This inspired them because they knew they could do it again.

The French have a history of causing sporting upsets against more fancied teams. On two occasions their supposedly "inferior" rugby team turned the tables and beat what is arguably, the best rugby team in the world, the New Zealand All Blacks. The All Blacks, too, just like the Brazilians focused on "not losing again" and paid the price.

You may think there is no difference, between "winning" and "not losing" but let me tell you. There is a huge difference.

Your subconscious mind is not as logical as you may think it is. It takes everything literally. The Law of Attraction states that "whatever you focus on, your subconscious mind automatically attracts" no exceptions. 

Now, when you focus on "not losing" you put all your emotion on that thing you don't want, which in this case is "losing" and guess what, you'll attract a loss.

Your mind cannot assume that when you focus on "not losing" you actually mean, winning. If you want to win, you have to focus on "winning" PERIOD!

Think about your own life. What happens when you think about not having money, or worrying that you'll not have money? I'm sure you agree that you attract more of the same. As these examples have shown, getting that you want is not dependent on how many or what type of resources you have or don’t have. All it takes is identifying what you want, focusing on it and then taking action that is consistent with your desire.

Once you do that the Universe will give you all the conditions, resources and people you need to make your dream a reality.

When you play while thinking about "not losing", all your actions are driven by fear. However those who play to win play with confidence. Their attitude is, "I have nothing to lose, so I might as well give it my everything". 

If you're not putting everything you have into your game, then you're definitely not playing to win.