5 Tips to Create the Business Olympian Within
It’s been another incredible and exciting Winter Olympics as our athletes brought home 37 medals (9 Gold/15 Silver/13 Bronze). It was also bittersweet for in 2002 I took my Dad to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and we had some wonderful father-son bonding. Dad passed away from Alzheimer’s this past November so I pictured the two of us at many events I watched on TV over the past two weeks.
As a former amateur athlete and successful business executive, I can really appreciate the training, preparation, and commitment it takes to be successful as an Olympian athlete. How you could not walk away with a feeling of what it takes to be an Olympic athlete…” the best of the best” is beyond me. Imagine working on one goal, one dream, every day for four years, and having it come down to an event in most cases that lasts only precious seconds. All that blood, sweat, and tears as you strive for either the glory is yours or you go home without the prize. Incredible isn’t it?
While watching the Olympics, it’s apparent each participant possesses the necessary qualities of intense discipline, focus, world-class training, the will to succeed, and a passion for life. These are the same qualities that successful business professionals need to possess to succeed especially in a down economy. Yes, the Olympians have coaches helping them to focus, but as the Olympic athlete, to be successful today, you need to incorporate the same use of discipline, focus, training, will, and passion. The ability to practice your “art”, grow and execute your action plans will deliver the desired results and peak performance you strive for.
Let’s look at these qualities and see how to incorporate these into your life:
- Discipline is the key “attribute” for you to possess to be successful. You need discipline in your work habits, in performing your “genius” work and in what you want and where you want to be. Discipline brings about focus.
- Focus: What are your goals? What are your company goals? Are they compatible with each other? Are they attainable? Define your goals and action steps necessary for you to achieve your success. Remember… a goal is a dream with a deadline in dream away.
- World-Class Training: The Olympian athletes train, train, and then train some more. They go over the same techniques; again and are called developing mental muscle. You’ve heard “we need to get back to the basics” before, there’s a reason why. Train the mind and it will perform any task day in and day out without having to be reminded. Are those on your team trained to perform like this? What are you doing to train and grow your “mental muscle”? As I always say “when you’re green you grow and when you’re ripe you’re rotten”. Learn something new every day!
- The Will to Succeed: also known as perseverance. Never give up, fight on! If you get knocked back up! Keep focused on your goals.
- Find Your Passion: We spend more time at work than we do at home so make sure you love what you do or at least make your work environment a fun place to be. It’s not hard to ‘s all about attitude and altitude!
Tip: Being an Olympic athlete is not much different than being an “Olympic” business athlete. Take the test! Write down these five principles and score yourself to see if you’re incorporating these key qualities into your life to succeed. If not, create an action plan to help you stay focused as you implement these qualities to be successful and watch your career for the Gold! Good luck.
Read More
