John C. Maxwell once wrote that people hear your words, but they feel your attitude, which emphasizes the importance of having the right attitude. Another believer in having a winning attitude is TV host, news anchor, athlete, and speaker Gretchen Ho, who credits God for blessing her with a winning attitude, which is an important part of her success. For Ho, a winning attitude means “being able to conquer yourself day in and day out and seeing your strengths and weaknesses able being able to improve yourself every day.”
As a student-athlete and a Woman in Action, it is in her nature to be competitive and look at the competition, but she says that it is harder to look inside oneself and see who you are. Ho adds for her, winning actually means being able to win against her own weaknesses and being able to harness her strengths and put all of it together and become a better version of herself. She credits her time as an athlete playing for the Ateneo Lady Eagles for developing her discipline and building the fundamentals of being a competitor.
One of her coaches used to say that when they go into practice, they need to have goals in mind and a specific part of their game that they want to improve. Ho also understood the importance of maintaining strengths and developing consistency. It was these qualities and especially her discipline which she carried in the world of media and TV, especially since she was new to it. When she tried out hosting, she was initially shy and kept accepting hosting gigs to give herself a chance to constantly improve. She adds that even though she remains competitive, she was only focused on improving herself and getting better and never sought to bring other people down.
Even though she is now comfortable speaking in front of people and the camera, she didn’t have the confidence when she was younger. She understood that if she needed to be better, she needed to start with what she told herself and start loving herself. Once she had true self-love, it helped her accept her flaws, and appreciate who she is and acknowledge that she may be imperfect, but she is beautiful just the same. Aside from that, her winning attitude also meant accepting the fact that you won’t win all the time and that you will make mistakes and brushing them off and bouncing back and getting back up.
Ho goes on to add that having a winning attitude guarantees success because success is not a one-time thing and that success is built by character. She also credits God as one of the biggest factors in developing her winning attitude, with God helping her overcome her failures and teaching her that she is not defined by her mistakes and losses. She says that the Lord also allowed her to heal and showed me a way to be better because she is loved by Christ and reassured that she is not facing her battles on her own. God helped her realize that she is loved and she is beautiful for who she is, even when she loses and makes mistakes.
Finally, Ho also credits the importance of humility in having a winning attitude, as there are times when we cannot do everything on our own. She reiterates the reality that winning doesn’t happen every time, but that those failures are essential in teaching us the lessons we need to level up. The host, news anchor, athlete, and speaker sees life as a puzzle where people are different pieces but fit together into one beautiful picture, even though we are different shapes and sizes.
For her, winning is becoming a better person every single day and conquering your personal battles, and winning in life with the help of God. For more inspiring stories, life lessons, and words of wisdom from different industry leaders, watch PLUS Talks or visit PLUS Network on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
