"What separates winners from losers?"
Is it natural talent? resources? mindset? potential?
No matter who you ask, you'll get a different answer. But since there is something that clearly separates those who lose from those who win, a constant unchanging factor between all those answers must be present.
what makes a winner?
With a question like this, it seems efficient to apply Occam's razor (the principle that the simplest explanation is usually the right one). I would use this to classify a winner as "one who reaches an objective's limit". Regardless of whether it's an individual goal or interpersonal competition. The winner is the one who stands on top and reaches a point where nobody else gets to stand.
... and how do they get there?
winners know how to lose
A concept that winners know better than anyone else is loss/failure. Losing sucks. It's normal not to want to lose. Some people dont care at all, some do care but no they dont have it in them to try harder, and there are some people that recoil at the thought of loss. The final option is where you find winners. If there's even a fraction of a chance that they can still win, they'll give their all, and if they still lose in the end, then at least they put everything into it. It will still hurt. In fact it will hurt more than if they had given up. This is why they understand it more, because the more they care, the more weight it carries and the bigger an impact it leaves. Soon they obsess over it and learn from their mistakes, covering holes, correcting errors, and refining their technique. All of this just to avoid losing.
There's this beautifully oxymoronic idea of a "losing winner" I have, where you become an incredibly layered individual, hardened almost by your failures, collecting lessons in place of losses, ultimately forming the path to your eventual victory. To become a winner, you don't need to never lose, you just have to be able to overcome it, and make sure your losses aren't meaningless.
winners train to win
By training, I mean any activity that prepares you to face your objective. How hard an individual trains is up to them. Of course since people have different aptitudes and abilities everyone's training volume will vary.
I think a winner's awareness of their own aptitude plays a part in their ability to replicate success. A winner understands how much effort they need to put in and they give it their all and more. It's the idea that there is always someone in front of, beside or behind them, that wants to take their position that keeps them pushing forward.
Actually it's not only this. It doesnt need to be other people that push them forward. Winners can push themselves to. The force of a single goal can far outweigh any competitive energy. Desire is as good a motivation as anything else, and a winner's desire to keep winning keeps them winning as long as they dont lose focus.
winners never quit
Times get tough, life gets hard (believe me I know), but no matter how hard things get, a winner finds a way to come back, to keep moving, to thrive. Becoming a winner is a decision — A choice made out of a desire for something greater. Why give it up because things aren't going your way in the moment? In fact it should be expected. Putting yourself in a winning position means welcoming adversity. It can come in the form of competition, internal turmoil, external opinions and chatter, and many other things that make it difficult to keep going. But a winner keeps going nonetheless.
the mentality
It's important to know that in aspects of life, some people will never win. It could be because of themselves or just poor luck.
The determination to win is something that has to be found deep within and some search for their entire lives and never find it. I'd argue it's because they're looking in the wrong place (could be it's own written piece) For those who are winning and want to keep at it, those who have one in the past and feel lost, and those who feel as if they are yet to win, it's important to understand that winning is not just a single moment where you celebrate. It's the culmination the time spent under tension in training, all the stress that builds up, all the sacrifice, all the pressure from trying to surpass your past, all with little to no margin for error.
It's hard, but that's how it should be. It couldn't possibly be for everyone. Winners know this already and they take on all this pressure regardless.