If you’re feeling defeated, motivational speaker James Whittaker wants to help you “win the day.”
“Any person in that situation where they just feel like they have no control over their life or they just feel like they’ve got a bit of a victim mindset, I will do anything that I can, anything in my power, to help pull them out of that, to recognize that they can change the world by first changing themselves,” Whittaker says.
The first step is to get clarity on who you are and where you want to go.
“In my experience, the people who feel like they’re treading water—it all comes back to one… main thing that they’re struggling with. They’re not clear on who they are, and they’re not clear on where they want to go,” he says.
Once you know who you are and where you want to go, then you can “win the day.”
Whittaker’s formula to “win the day” is to incorporate wonder, intent and nurture.
Wonder provides a spark of curiosity and purpose that drives your highest potential. “When you’re connected to wonder, you’re intensely curious about how great you can be from your one extraordinary life—and committed to doing what it takes to achieve it,” Whittaker says.
Intent is the deliberate focus and structure that amplifies your daily performance. “When you’re connected to intent, you intentionally choose to surround yourself with people who inspire you, create an environment that motivates you and engage in daily rituals that energize you.”
Nurture is about stepping outside your comfort zone to identify and take on challenges that drive growth. “A lot of people think that when they adopt this ‘win the day’ mentality that they are somehow going to be immune to adversity when, in fact, it’s the complete opposite,” Whittaker says. “You will be faced with adversity, probably every single day, but how you respond to that adversity when it inevitably strikes is what separates ordinary people from extraordinary achievers.”
To better understand who you are, Whittaker recommends finding your winning traits. Think about a time when you performed your best professionally, he says. “Maybe it was speaking on stage, maybe it was recording a podcast, maybe it was closing a sale—anything like that,” he says. “What were the characteristics that you embodied in that moment?” Some examples include ambition, collaboration, compassion, courage, creativity, curiosity, leadership, optimism, perseverance and reliability.
Pick no more than three traits, and then think about how you will show up every day leveraging those three winning traits to make the impact you want to have, Whittaker says.
Whittaker offers a 10-question quiz at jameswhitt.com to help individuals create a personalized “win the day” action plan. He also has a podcast and has written several books, including Andrew Carnegie’s Mental Dynamite: How to Unlock the Awesome Power of You.
Curious about how to get started? Whittaker suggests incorporating four small changes into your morning routine.
- “When you wake up in the morning, make the decision to win,” he says. Otherwise, you’ve automatically made the decision to lose. If we wake up and we make the decision to win, it shakes us out of our passiveness.
- Have a clear intent for the day and how you want to show up, he says. Otherwise, it’s going to be so much easier for you to fall victim to distraction and procrastination.
- Affirm your success by saying something like, “I’m going to win today” or “Today is going to be a great day.” When you expect good things to happen, you will notice that they occur much more frequently, he says.
- Start a morning journal routine. Write down three things that will make each day a win. They could be professional, physical and personal. Whittaker says he’s been journaling for four years and likes to go back and see how he was allocating his energy three or four years ago compared to the present day. The benefit of journaling compounds the longer you do it, he says.
There is no question that these are stressful times, so Whittaker encourages people to focus on what they can control. “It’s very easy to fall into the trap of a recurring negative news cycle,” he says. Instead, he urges people to focus on improving their minds by taking 20 minutes to listen to an audiobook or a podcast or scheduling a conversation with someone who inspires them. “These are little things that you can do every single day to feel better, improve your mindset and become the person that you want to be,” he says.
Don’t forget to look back at what you have already achieved in your life and remind yourself of the challenges you’ve overcome, Whittaker says. The challenges we’ve overcome shape the mindset we have today and give us confidence, he says.
Whittaker has worked with Olympic gold medalists and other people who have been extremely successful at the highest possible level in their field. “[When] that chapter of their life ends, that is a really, really difficult time,” he says. What they need is clarity on their mission and their purpose, things that Whittaker says have been there all along and aren’t just about sports.
“The secret is the mission is not something that ever has an end date,” Whittaker says. “It’s something that is with you [to] the end of your life.”
Photo courtesy James Whittaker
