The following contains excerpts from the book, The Winner’s Edge (Denis Waitley).
At our music school in Midland, Texas we believe that music is more than sound, it is relationships. When discussing the subject of relationships, the concurrent subject of Leadership comes to the fore.
Denis Waitley wrote this landmark leadership book in 1980, which became an inspiration to many other Leadership materials, including much of John Maxwell’s writing.
Waitley introduces his thoughts, “As an investigator, I believe I have identified some fundamental denominators that appear to be common in people who become so uncommonly successful in reaching their goals…this book offers a ‘back to the basics’ approach to healthy behavior, supported by current research in the health sciences and by anecdotal evidence from the lives of ‘winners’ in many different arenas of society.”
One of the top priorities we have at our music school in Midland, Texas is to show honor to one another and to learn how to participate in the symbiotic experiences music can foster.
Self-dimension
In the chapter, “Self-dimension,” Waitley writes, “The real losers in life are people who let life happen to them. They wander aimlessly around, just getting through the day, trying to indulge themselves in some new fad or pleasure.” Waitley contrasts the studies of Sigmund Freud and Viktor Frankl. Frankl’s findings “make a sharp departure from the theories of Sigmund Freud. Frankl learned much from his time in Nazi concentration camps. “In the concentration camps, we witnessed to the contrary; we saw how, faced with the identical situation, on man degenerated while another attained virtual saintliness.”
“He noticed that men and women were able to survive the trials of starvation and torture when they had a purpose for their existence. Those who had no reason for staying alive, died quickly and easily.”
According to Frankl: “Life was expecting something of them. Life asks of every individual a contribution, and it is up to that individual to discover what it should be.”
At our music school in Midland, Texas we endeavor to instill hope into the lives of each of our students, giving them a picture of their potential based upon their unique strengths, combined with their goals and dreams.
“Where there is life, there is hope. Where there are hopes, there are dreams. Where there are vivid dreams repeated, they become goals. Goals become the action plans and game plans that winners dwell on in intricate detail, knowing that achievement is almost automatic when the goal becomes an inner-commitment.”
“Thomas Carlysle compared human beings with ships. About 95 percent can be compared to ships without rudders…Every sea captain knows his next port of call, and even though he cannot see his actual destination for fully 98 percent of his voyage, he knows what is it.”
“Winners in life start with lifetime goals. What do I stand for? What would I defend to the end: What would I want people to say about me after I’m gone? If I had one year to live, would I do in that year what I’m going to do this year? Winners also know how important time-priority goals are: a five-year plan; a one-year program; a six-month campaign; a summer project. Most of all, winners know that the most important time frames are the groups of minutes in every day.”
One of the key principles we teach students in our music school in Midland, Texas is that it is not the big events of life that make the difference, but rather the small daily disciplines.
“Winners set their daily goals the afternoon or evening before. They list on paper in a priority sequence at least six major things to do tomorrow. When they start in the morning, they go down the list checking off the items they have accomplished, adding new ones and carrying over onto the next day’s itinerary those they did not complete.”
“The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, learn about them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. In other words, they never set them. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.”
A great reason to have a teacher or coach, like we provide at our music school in Midland, Texas, is to gain objectivity about the path forward and how to successfully walk it.
“True self-dimension starts with the inner circle: the family. Is your family a winning team or a chicken outfit the kids can hardly wait to grow out of?”
“The greatest communication skill of all is in paying value to others. That means really listening to others, asking questions, drawing the other person out, asking for examples, asking them to put it in other words, and feeding back for clarity and understanding…The ‘I’ll make him glad he talked with me’ attitude is one that can become a whole way of life.”
“Winners in business, personal relationships, and in marriage, take full responsibility for success in the communication process. In other words, they never meet you half-way or go fifty-fifty. As listeners, winners take 100 percent of the responsibility for hearing what you mean. As talkers, winners take 100 percent of the responsibility for being certain that you understand what they are saying…Marriage is not looking at each other, but looking in the same direction together.”
“If a person says to you, ‘I like me best when I’m with you,’ what they are saying is, when I’m in your company, you allow me to be all that I can be.”
At our music school in Midland, Texas we believe that music is more than sound, it is relationships. And it is through a culture of positive relationships that we can inspire and be inspired by others who are on the road to completing their unique paths.
“Procrastination is the fear of success. I used to think it was fear of failure, but now I know after years of study and costly experiences of my own that people procrastinate because they are afraid that they don’t deserve the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, and requires and individual to continue to set an example, it is much easier to procrastinate.”