Winners and whiners are quite different to say the least. Regardless of which definition you choose to use, it will show a major contrast from a whiner.

A winner is one that is successful especially through praiseworthy ability and hard work or a victor, especially in games and sports or one that wins admiration. A whiner, meanwhile, is someone who complains a lot, especially in a way that is peevish or self-pitying.

One should quickly deduce that winners can’t be whiners and vice versa. Winners have a different mindset. What the difference in mindset ultimately does is cause the winner to act in ways that are much different from the whiner.

So what are some of the ways that winners and whiners differ? Let’s start with the characteristics of whiners.

Whiners are lazy and look for the easy way out in everything that they do. Whiners will complain about not only doing the extras but also just the basics. Whiners will be much more inclined to take shortcuts to get around doing things that will require them to exert effort.

Whiners look for people and things to blame. Whiners don’t sacrifice. Instead, they complain about having to practice or do things that they just don’t think are necessary for success. Whiners make excuses and resist accountability for their failures. They feel that there are reasons beyond their control that are the causes of their struggles.

Simply put, whiners are a coach’s nightmare. They are a nightmare for teammates as well, and for a boss. Whiners, bring a negative energy to all that they do. Nobody really wants to have whiners on their team.

Winners, however, are very different from whiners. For winners, it starts with time. They arrive early, stay late and work hard while they are present. Why? Because winners view time as valuable. Winners don’t want people to waste their time, and they don’t want to waste others either. They don’t have the time to stand and gossip or complain because they are using their time constructively to get better at their craft.

Winners are not afraid of hard work. While whiners waste mental energies as well as time standing or sitting around trying to figure out how to get out of a little work, the winner dives in and gets the work or task completed. Once they are done, they do a few or more extra reps too. Winners are not the type to take shortcuts because they realize that doing so is not the path to success and remember, to a winner, winning matters.

Not so much for the whiner, who might say they want to win but their actions scream otherwise. Winners make those around them better. They have a vibe about them that makes others strive to keep up.

Winners breed winners just as losers breed losers. Winners bring a positive energy and enthusiasm to what they do. Even when they face a set back, winners are inclined to figure out how to overcome it and get to work ensuring that it doesn’t happen again. Not so the whiner.

What does the whiner do when faced with a set back? Pity themselves, blame others, complain about how the world is against them and anything else they can think of to avoid figuring out a solution and getting to work. Winners take accountability for their actions or lack thereof and seek to fix whatever might be holding them back.

They blame themselves first unlike what a whiner would do. Winners are the type of person that a coach loves. Winners are great teammates to have as well and likely great employees too. A team full of winners is a great thing. They are very likely to be a successful team.

A team full of whiners? A nightmare for a coach and or any teammates that want to win. Can whiners become winners? For sure. However, for that to occur it will take winners surrounding them and showing them the way to becoming a winner.

Winners must hold whiners to account if there is to be any change in their personalities and actions. Winners can’t accept the laziness, the excuses, or the shortcuts of whiners if there is to be any change in their behaviors.

Can winners become whiners? Sadly that too can happen if the whiners among them have personalities that are stronger and eventually wear them down to the point that they choose to be like the rest. However, most who are winners are driven and will work to overcome the negativity of the whiners that surround them.

Most often in the world of sports, whiners get results that provide them with even more reasons to keep whining. Winners, however, often will also get the results that they crave and will be even more driven to keep doing what winners do.

So it begs the question, are you a winner or a whiner? You would be well served to answer the question honestly. Only by doing so can you hope to figure out a path toward becoming an all-time winner.

Now that would be nothing to whine about.