Hi, this is Mike Lipkin and I’m really excited to share the results of a breakthrough Environics study on The Gestalt of Champions with you.
Gestalt simply means the organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts. It’s the way that champions put it all together that sets them apart.
For the first time ever, we surveyed a representative sample of over 1800 Canadians to discern The Champion’s secret sauce. We wanted to understand the mental patterns and the value drivers that enable champions to excel.
The results were absolutely fascinating and I’ll share them with you now:
In response to the first question, “do you consider yourself to really excel, to really be the best at something?” 25.3% said yes.
In response to the second question, “do you believe you could be the very best there is at this?” 34.5% said “yes, I think I can”. 9.4% said “yes, because I already am.”
In response to the third question “how important is it for you to be the very best at this” 47.8% said it was important, but only 12.8% said it was extremely important.
In response to the fourth question, “do you have a plan to excel at this?” 23.7% told us that “they had a plan but some final details needed to be worked out.” Only 4.4% said that they have a detailed plan in place to succeed.
Isn’t that extraordinary? Less than 1 out 8 Canadians say it is extremely important to be the best. But only 1 out of 23 Canadians have a detailed plan to succeed.
Finally, we asked a fifth question, “Do you support or promote a cause?” 40.7% said “yes, but not that actively”. 13.6% said “yes, quite actively”.
When we cross-tabulated all the responses, we discovered that only 5% of Canadians have the Gestalt of a Champion. They are wired to be the best.
How would you answer the five questions? At your core do you believe you are a champion and how are you acting on your beliefs? Because here is an amazing opportunity for those who are prepared to seize it: 95% of the population do not have the Gestalt of a Champion nor are they taking the actions to earn champion results.
It’s easy to differentiate yourself against 95% of the population and achieve your goals if you understand the Gestalt of Champions. The top ten social values that make it up are:
Personal Creativity – the desire to use one’s imagination and talents in daily life, both at work and at play.
Personal Challenge – rejecting personal failure and setting difficult goals that stretch oneself.
Vitality – the sense that one has a great sense of energy and the desire to fully expend it.
Concern for Appearance – wanting to be attractive and placing great importance on image.
Importance of Aethestics – Wanting to surround oneself with beautiful things, people and design.
Need for Status Recognition – the desire to be admired and respected by others.
Quest for Meaning – the desire for an intense life of purpose
Community Involvement – Being interested in one’s communities and committed to helping them.
Multi-Culturalism – openness towards diverse cultures blended with a desire to learn from them and about them.
Social Learning – the desire to learn from others and commitment to investing the time to do so.
How do you score on each of those social values? If you are not a nine or a ten, you don’t have the Gestalt of a Champion.
By the way, the one trait that will NEVER be associated with a champion is Aimlessness. That means not having goals, experiencing a void of meaning or feeling cut off from one’s society.
The great, great thing about Champions is that they are all in all the time. They are the ones exhorting others to thrive. As Canada proves, all it takes is one champion for every other nineteen people for communities to thrive. Be that champion.
So here are Lipkin’s ten actions for you that will help you become a Champion:
- Identify your unique talent and find new ways to use it constantly.
- Set yourself a big audacious goal and go for it.
- Be Healthful. Eat well. Move all the time. Read, listen and watch inspirational people.
- Look neat and pretty, then get on with the show. Others are influenced by your personal image. Make it a pleasure to please them.
- Surround yourself with beauty – art, architecture, landscape, people, books, technology, clothes and shows.
- Earn the respect and admiration of people that you respect and admire. Refuse to endure disrespect. Look for every opportunity to shower others with kudos.
- Search for meaning. Live on purpose. Be intentional in your behaviour. Interpret everything in a way that empowers you.
- Get involved in your community. Pay it forward. Be generous so you attract the best kind of Karma. We’re only as good as all of us together.
- Spend time with people who come from a very different place to you. Immerse yourself in their culture. Explore their folklore and customs. See the world through their eyes and you’ll see so much more through your own.
- Learn, baby, learn. The more distinctions you can master, the more insights you can share and the more solutions you can provide. Have great conversations. Be the one that others want to be with.
Hey, I love sharing our breakthroughs with you. If you want to know more about how we can design a program that’s exactly right for your team, email me at Mike.Lipkin@environics.ca. Or call me at 416-917-6007. Until then, remember: every day is a battle. The key is to only keep company with people who uplift you, who bring out your very best.
