WEEKLY COACHING TIP #169                                                                                                                            

THE OLYMPIC CHALLENGE    

So it’s Olympic time again.  It doesn’t seem like 5 minutes ago I was writing Go For Gold based around the last Olympics.  Well, it is something that is inspiring watching excellence and commitment in action, even if you don’t like sports, isn’t it?

So what does it make you think of, what do you feel if you watch any of the Olympic games?

I’m not big on watching most sports myself but I do watch some of the Olympics because I love to see excellence, focus and dedication in action, I use it to inspire me and realise about my own self-imposed limitations and remembering that, I too, can reach my goals if I decide to really focus on them.

The other day I came into the living room to ask my husband something as he was watching Luge. I found myself fascinated; I asked my husband if that was that 2 people I was seeing, lying on a kind of a sledge hurtling down a slope at an unbelievable speed.  He answered yes.  I said, ‘WHY’?  I mean what possesses 2 people to lie on top of each other and go hurtling down some icy track. Is it, the thrill (my mind interprets that as danger) the kudos of taking part in the Olympics (ego) or the sheer human desire to see how far they can push themselves, to experience the end feeling of elation, pushing past personal boundaries and having that feeling of being truly in the zone.  Not to mention the adrenaline rush!

Some people thrive on being told ‘it can’t be done’, then going right ahead to prove everyone wrong.  It’s thanks to people with that mentality that we have electricity and many other modern day inventions. If the inventors had listened to others, they would never have pushed out the limits, faced ridicule and had the dedication to enhance humankind.  I’m reminded of a story about a very famous concert pianist who was giving a private recital in someone’s home in New York.  Afterwards someone came up to her and said, that “her playing was amazing and inspiring and she would give anything to be able to play like that”.  To which the pianist said, “no you wouldn’t”.  Somewhat taken aback the lady said, “yes I would, I would really give anything to play like that”.  The pianist replied “my dear, I have no reason to put you down or be unkind, but you and most other people in the world, would not give anything to play like me, because that would entail, many, many hours of hard work, energy and commitment and most people are nowhere near ready to put that work in”.  Isn’t that the truth?

Can you remember a time when you really did put in that extra bit of work, the extra commitment?  Maybe studied extra hard for an exam or researched more details into something you were working on in your job. Perhaps decorated a room with much more thought and preparation than you would have ever done before.  Even ran a fun run and thought you’d never be able to do it, but trained for it and did it.

If you have, you will know what it’s like to go past your comfort zone and experience that feeling of pride, achievement, ‘I did that’, ‘that was my personal best’, or ‘I never thought I could achieve that!’

You see it’s not about winning, but about striving for your personal best, not comparing yourself to someone else, just going past your usual boundaries.  Now, what if you took this attitude into something you currently do in your life, something that you would really like to improve.  Maybe it is a sport, perhaps you are learning a language, and putting 5% extra work in. What about relationships, what if you chose to listen more and focused just 5% harder on that, consistently.  Just imagine by consistently putting 5% extra into anything you want to improve, how your life would be, how you would see yourself, your ‘feel good’ factor would just begin to escalate.  This would have the wonderful ‘knock on effect of boosting self esteem and inner self belief.  We are goal orientated creatures, so just by having the intention of putting that 5% extra in would instantly take you up a notch.  Just be sure to be certain that the subject you want to improve, really is a goal you truly desire, for you, not someone else or because you think you ‘should’.

I know of soccer teams in the US who have used the same principle to go from literally the bottom of the league to the top, by using 1% extra focus, practice, etc. Just 1% and because this is very achievable, we know we can do this, anyone can, but most don’t, they just feel overwhelmed because they’ve set the goal too high.

So why not be an Olympian in your own life? Decide what you want to take to new levels and then focus and do it!  Remember genius is just total focus, that’s all!

Onwards and upwards and what if you choose to laugh at lot this week and not care what anyone thinks of you?!

© 2006 INSPIRIT & Denise Bosque All Rights Reserved