For four years, you train night and day. For four years, you are giving up everything for a chance at the gold. For four years, you are putting in grueling time and effort. Then you are there! Thousands upon thousands of people are focused on your performance. How is it that Olympic athletes perform successfully under mental stress and strain? I’ve been fascinated by that question as I have watched Olympic athletes perform. Furthermore, I was thinking how great it would be if we could understand some of the key success factors they use to achieve performance success. Because we can then apply those success factors to increase our own performance success.Success Factor #1: The Courage to Fail In Front of Thousands.
“One’s best success comes after his/her greatest disappointments.”
––Henry Ward Beecher
Vice President Joe Biden is not known for always making the most astute comments, but this time he was brilliant with his insight into what sets Olympic athletes apart. He said that what set them apart from other athletes, who also had great physical skills, was their courage to fail in front of millions of people. Many average athletes never make it to this level because they are afraid of being less than perfect. Thus, their performance success is limited: they have not failed enough to increase their skills to the level they need to be at to win.
Application:
- What risks are you willing to take in your career, even if it means that you will be living at the edge of ‘incompetence’?
- Have you become stale in your routine at work? Is it because it would mean looking stupid if you stretched yourself with a challenging project?
- Or does it mean that you have become a bit lazy and lax? The downside of being too comfortable is that, over time, you will lose your edge. There is always going to be someone more qualified and bold who will be glad to take your place, and your boss/customers will reward the employee/business who is providing the highest level of service. So, if you are in a rutt, get off your butt!
Success Factor #2: Positive Perfectionism
“Great wo/men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.” Arthur Schopenhauer
You say, “This seems counter-intuitive! Didn’t you just say that you can’t be afraid to fail? The point of this success factor is that Olympic athletes have set high standards for themselves, and they are equally comfortable with both success and failure/criticism. They have a personal development plan that takes into account both their strengths and their weaknesses. Every failure is taken apart, not with a sense of shame, but with a sense of excitement as to how they can use their failures to perform more successfully the next time.
NFL football players use the same approach. While they do not necessarily love failure, they are comfortable with it. They review the tape of their performance on a continuous basis, so that they can learn from their mistakes and continuously improve.
Application: Examine your own core beliefs about yourself and your personal performance success. Do they need tweaking or replacing?
Success Factor #3: Focus, Focus, Focus
“If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent.”
–– Isaac Newton
Olympians are trained by former Olympic champions to visualize their success, and to train every day as if they are in the final race/event. I was watching a video recently of an Olympic athlete who shocked the world by coming from behind to win the 10,000 meter race. Every day, he would talk to himself about how he was going to win the event. He showed the interviewer his training notebook, in which he wrote positive affirmations to his subconscious (about every aspect of the race. Then he would take this mental picture and positive self-talk into his practices. It paid off on the day of his final race!
Application:
Do you plan your week effectively?
How do you approach your work/business each and every day?
Have you written down your general mission statement for why you are doing what you are doing?
Do you spend a power hour each day, to connect with God through prayer, meditation, and Bible Study?
Do you review your written goals for the year? (Do you have any written goals for the year?)
Do you picture how you will perform successfully Today?
Some related resources you may benefit from related to increasing your performance success, so that you can perform like an Olympian:
Learning the Success Factors of an Olympic Champion:
The Courage to Succeed: Success Secrets of an Unlikely Three-time Olympian
How to Find Your Life and Career Mission:
How to Find Your Mission in Life
The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement for Work and for Life
How to Set Goals:
Change Your Life The Smart Way: Create Your Best Year Yet! by Steve Borgman (that’s me! 
I just finished this eBook for you yesterday! This is the goal setting system I have used for the past few years, and I wouldn’t dream of starting my year without this process!
Goal Setting Forms : Tools to Help You Get Ready, Get Set, & Go for Your Goals! by Gary Ryan Blair
Million Dollar Habits: Proven Power Practices to Double and Triple Your Income
I hope you’ll comment below about how you are going for the gold!
Just for fun! Here is a fantastic article from NPR about mental toughness and Olympic training:
photo credit: Yellowrotus on Flickr Creative Commons
Hi Steve,
Great success factors! I love your story of the Olympic athlete who won because of his focus, visualization and affirmations.Picturing your day is indeed a very effective way of getting incredible results. I don’t know why it works, but it works. In my experience, if I can picture it, it will happen. However, I cannot picture me everything, but if I can do it vivid enough, result is almost garanteed.
Thanks for the inspiration!
marc van der linden recently posted..How to use the power of love to grow
Marc, that’s great! Have you written any blog posts regarding results that you are picturing for your future? If so, let me know, so I can drop by and read about them!
Twitter: JupiterJimFLA
says:
Stephen,
To me, Success Factor #3 is the most important. Focus, Focus, Focus! There are so many distractions in this world. There are the useless distractions like Most of Television. Then there are the “positive” distractions like other business opportunities or constructive hobbies, and ways to spend your time. Every day I get so many offers and videos on internet and social marketing and network marketing opportunities. It is so easy to get caught up checking out these ‘money-making’ opportunities, that you don’t actually sit down and achieve the list of things that you told yourself you were going to do today. And the things on your To Do list are the things that actually make you money in your current business. Make a commitment to your business and stay focused!
Jupiter Jim@Thesis Tutorial, Thesis Theme, WordPress Tutorial recently posted..WordPress Tutorial: Submit Google XML Sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools for your WordPress Blog SEO
Jupiter Jim, how correct you are. I’ve been reading this theme over and over, so I think I’m getting a message meant for me! The most successful people make the best use of the most precious resource they have: Time! I love your last statement: Make a commitment to your business and Stay Focused!
Twitter: joyce_edwards
says:
I agree with Jim that # 3 is the most important. I know that I can lose focus very easily. Taking the time to learn form others and then putting that lesson is play has also been a great way for me to move forward. Most people will not be Olympic athletes, in fact, few of us will even try. It seem that the same idea can be put to business by being more focus and doing our daily work-out.
Joyce Edwards recently posted..Worldwide Diabetes Epidemic
Joyce, thanks for the mention about taking the time to learn from others. A great tip I learned from the Internet Business Mastery podcast is to streamline your learning into the 3-4 most important sources. Then make sure you Apply what you learn. Once you’re done applying, go on to the next learning source. Simplifying and applying your learning will take you a long way!
This reminds me, Steve, of Wayne Dwyer’s famous statment: “Believing Is Seeing”.
When we actually put ourselves where we want, when we can see ourselves there in our minds… it’s just a matter of time before we step into the picture.
David Merrill recently posted..How To Be A Profit “Producer”, Not A Run-of-the-Mill “Multi-Tasker”
David, that was said so succinctly and yet with such eloquence I need to get back to my vision board! I had put one together a few years ago, but have gotten away from the practice of visualization.
Steve-Personal Success Factors recently posted..Here are Success Factors That Have Helped People Prosper During the Recession
Hi Stephen, what a fantastic way to look at our business! We should all be setting goals and envisioning just like the olympian athlete does. An olympian athlete most likely takes their training much more seriously than most entrepreneurs. However, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t train in just the same way!
I’ve been studying with John Assaraf, who does neuro brain training and teaches goal setting etc. It certainly does work!
Thanks for your post Stephen, regards from Julieanne
Julieanne van Zyl recently posted..Network Marketing Business Nurturing system
Julieanne, good for you! Leaders are committed to getting the coaching and training they need to perform well, and I can see you’ve done that. I’m sure your business is reaping the rewards of your commitment to personal growth.
Steve-Personal Success Factors recently posted..Give Me Five Myths And I’ll Give You The Truth!
Very Inspiring post, Stephen.
I have always admired Olympians… in fact having been a competitive sportsman, I understand that burning desire to win coupled with the understanding that failure in sport can be glorious and the lessons learned from these experiences prepare us for so many other facets of our lives.
I am very happy that I found this blog… brilliant. I will of course share this with all my contacts to they too can be inspired.
Best wishes
Pete
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Pete, I’m sure your experiences as a competitive sportsman have been helpful to you in the way you think about and run your business. I’m preparing for my first marathon this weekend, and I will be reminding myself of these truths somewhere after mile 13!
Steve-Personal Success Factors recently posted..Live Like A Marathon Runner!
Twitter: paulreimers
says:
Thanks for the great list of qualities and including actions to take for each.
One of my favorite parts is your reconciling the willingness to fail in front of a large number of people with the positive perfectionism. The mindset of a champion just makes the best meaning out of things. Any problem can be a disaster or it could be the lesson that will take them to the next level. The real champion is always focused on growth.
Paul Remers@ Visionary Network Marketing recently posted..How to Write a Powerful Elevator Pitch
Paul, you said it so well! “The mindset of a champion just makes the best meaning out of things” That’s a definite quote for my mental file cabinet.
Steve-Personal Success Factors recently posted..If You Don’t Get Your SWOT Together, You’ll Hate Yourself Later!!
Twitter: martyinmaui
says:
Terrific article Stephen! For me the willingness to fail in front of others is an issue I’ve struggled a bit with – I mean I still get out there and DO, but some times I feel like I’m dragging a ball and chain behind me! I know what I’m doing is checking/double and tripple checking to try to avoid mistakes so at some point, I just have to make myself dive in. What a trip!
marquita herald recently posted..Good News: Your Genes are Not Your Fate
Marquita, the first part of my comment got cut off. I want to congratulate you for pressing on despite the fear of failure. (You can see part 2 of this comment in my other comment
Steve-Personal Success Factors recently posted..Give Me Five Myths And I’ll Give You The Truth!
One of the best parts about insight and awareness is that we can then ask ourselves, “Is it worth it (to hold onto a thought that is weighing me down like a ball and chain)? ” It sounds like you are pushing through that old programming and pressing on to become an Olympian
Steve-Personal Success Factors recently posted..You Don’t Have To Be Steve Jobs To Change The World
Steve-
Great post! You really hit the nail on the head for me when you said to be excited about your failures because it means that you can pick it apart and find out what works and what doesn’t. And that you are that much closer to success. It is so important to not get frustrated and give up, because the success will be so much sweeter.
Thanks for the great insight.
Tony Tate
Tony Tate recently posted..What’s “WHAT” These Days?
It does seem counter-intuitive, doesn’t it, to actually get excited about failure. I recently sat in a Honda Dealership waiting for my wife to pick out her new vehicle. They had a great film running about the culture of failing and learning. I believe it’s a very popular video on YouTube.
Oh, I love this quote “One’s best success comes after his/her greatest disappointments.” Thanks also for the books recommended – I will take a look later. All the best, Alison
Alison Barrows@Whole Body Cleanse recently posted..Super Colon Cleanse
Twitter: KevinMartineau
says:
Hi Steve:
Having the courage to fail is truly a great factor to success. If we can’t give ourselves permission to fail (so that we can learn from our failures) we will never move forward in our journey. We will always remain stuck where we are.
Kevin
Kevin Martineau recently posted..Giving up self-sufficiency
Why is it necessary to misquote people (in an effort to be gender ‘correct’)?
Beecher said their, not his/her.
Schopenhauer said men, not wo/men.
If you want to change the phrase you take it out of quotes.
Thank you, Mac, for the feedback. I appreciate your preference not to be gender correct. But I am going to keep it as is, because I want women to feel equally respected on my blog.