Winners, Whiners and Grouches.

Today's Marketing Cookie is about winners, whiners, and grouches.

My mother always told me, "There are two types of people in this world: winners and whiners. Whichever of the two you are going to be each day is completely up to you." She was right. I believed it then and I believe it now. I think the difference between the two is that even when winners lose, they never whine. Meanwhile, whiners continue to whine even when they win.

No matter the day, your age, the weather, or the challenge you face, there are only two ways to be in every situation. You're either going to approach life with a positive outlook and smile through whatever comes your way, or you'll start from a negative viewpoint and hope to be pleasantly surprised when things work out. Winners who become chronic whiners are eventually excluded from teams that aim to win.

Although my mother mentioned only two types of people, I think I've discovered a third: the grouch.

A grouch focuses only on themselves. While they are often driven to win, they differ from true winners. Winners are team players who elevate those around them. In contrast, a tyrannical grouch is domineering, barks orders, hurls insults, and pushes people away. They cannot be considered winners; grouches are in a league of their own.

Grouches are not only negative but aggressively so. They don't just see the glass as half-empty; they metaphorically shoot the glass and then blame everyone else for the shortage. It's clear we can't group an angry grouch with self-defeating whiners; grouches are distinctly apart.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, a winner sees opportunities in every difficulty. A whiner sees difficulty in every opportunity. And I believe a grouch seizes every opportunity to create difficulties and blames others for the outcomes.

The truth is, having a grouch in your company, even one that wins, can be toxic. Unfortunately, nice people who develop chronic grouchiness are avoided by coworkers, the community, neighbors, and even family. Grouches get "un-friended" in life as much as they are avoided on social media, building walls so high that nothing good can reach them. It is in this moment that today's fortune rings true, saying, "You can't expect to be a lucky dog if you're always growling."