LESSONS FROM THE OLYMPICS

This week, I watched the Olympics with some friends and
picked up two themes in the conversation, both of which
troubled me.
The first was the wistful refrain, "If only I had that kind
of talent." Sadly, most of the people who say this will
never actually know whether they have the talent for the
Olympics or not! They don't have the training or the youth,
but more importantly, they've never really tried! Very few
of us ever commit to finding the absolute limits of our
abilities.
The second familiar excuse was, "I never had the chance." I
heard stories about bad coaches, bad referees, parents who
weren't supportive, and on it went. "If only…."
What amazes me are the people who have done extraordinary
things once they decided they really wanted to. A middle-age
woman I know, Margo Chisholm, climbed the highest mountain on
six of the seven continents (including Antarctica), and almost
made it to the top of Mt Everest...twice! Somewhere along the
line, she decided it was worth the trouble, so she "went for it."
I won't go into Margo's personal story except to say that if
you knew her medical background, you'd appreciate that story
even more!
This week, I saw a story about a young woman who picked a
car up off her father, then gave him CPR to save his life.
If you'd asked her the day before if she was strong enough
to lift a car, she would have laughed in your face! But she
did it when she "had to."
Few of us know how much talent, strength, ability and
endurance we really have. Until we are pushed to our limits,
we rarely get the chance to find out what we are capable of.
And, that's when a critical decision has to be made.
For most people, the decision is, "Since I never have, I
probably can't." But, there is another alternative!
The other possibility is to decide, "I never have, but maybe
I could. I'll give it my best shot and see what happens."
I've had the privilege of meeting several U.S. Navy SEALS,
and reading about their training. They emphasize that
strength and size are not the critical factors. They say
attitude and mental toughness are more important than
physical strength. Some candidates are determined,
persistent and relentless, and they become SEALS. Others get
tired or injured or worn-out and "ring the bell"--they quit.
In business and in life, it's fun to watch the Olympics. We
love watching the very best. We admire the best athletes,
the best entertainers, the best business leaders. But while
we admire them, I fear that too often, instead of learning
from them, we find excuses for our own relatively mediocre
performance.
We say "I'm too old" or "they got all the breaks." Instead
of trying to learn their techniques and copy their skills,
we dismiss them as unusually blessed and different from us.
I think that's a mistake. And we can do better.