Today is dedicated to my coach, Amazing Jane Atkinson, who taught me that mindset is the most important part of the game.

Did you watch the Superbowl last week? Before the game began, I was thinking about the players' mindset. Half of them were going to walk away losers, but none expected to lose.

Every player and coach walked into that stadium with absolute surety that their team would hold the Lombardi trophy aloft and that a big fat ring would be placed on the hands that held it. Are they delusional? After all, half of them would be wrong.

And what about the losers? What do you think their mindset was in the locker room at the end of the game? Do you think they wanted to quit - lick their wounds and go sheepishly away? No. They will sit in the loss for a bit and then double down on their efforts with this sentence firmly in each psyche - "We'll get 'em next time!"

We'd do well to adopt some of their delusion. We'd do well to go into each call, each negotiation, and each request we make with the adamant belief that it will go our way. And when it doesn't, adopting the mantra, "I'll get 'em next time," and then carrying that mantra into the next call, the one after that, and so on.

Well-begun is half done isn't just about chores. It's about walking in with the right belief. Well-begun is a mindset, and mindset is half the outcome.

Own Your Sales Gene…