Achieve Results like an Olympian

How To Achieve Results like Olympians

At the end of each day regardless of your title or position, we crave as humans to make an impact in the world we live in. If you are working with a church, business, educational institution, or non-profit achieving results ultimately lays the groundwork for what you are working for. With these 4 qualities as your bedrock, you can achieve results like an Olympian too.

Who doesn’t like to watch the Olympics? It’s the best of the best competing on a worldwide stage. I think I ride my bicycle faster on the back roads of Texas after I’ve watched a close Olympic race!  Maybe I’m unusual, but at times during the Olympics, I imagine joining the athletes in a competition. Then I wake up and realize it’s not going to happen!

But I do believe that there are four qualities of Olympic athletes that even you and I can embrace. And when we do, we can achieve Olympic results in our own lives!

Live with Integrity 

Everyone has witnessed the downfall of Olympic athletes.  I’m not talking about losing the competition on race day.  I’m talking about the scandal, disqualification, and embarrassment that follows someone caught training or competing using performance-enhancing drugs. If you don’t have integrity, you are building your life and organization on an unstable foundation. Sooner or later, it will crumble.

Proverbs 10:9 states,

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.”

There is power in the alignment of our values and actions. It is only an illusion to believe that you can hide your actions from the world and even more so your team. When your integrity is alignment is when you will achieve results that truly matter.

Does your “walk” match your “talk”? How do you live when no one is looking?

For a powerful conversation around integrity and conviction go and listen to True North Leader Podcast’s interview with George Green IV.

Know Your Goal to Achieve Results

The Olympians that we enjoy watching compete decided years ago, often when they were in grade school, that they intended to become Olympians. These athletes also have daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals. Each leads them toward their dream of competing in the Olympics.

Goals direct not only the leader but also your team to move toward your goal to achieve significance and the soaring results you want.

Do you know your goal? What do you want to achieve? Who do you want to become?  Have you broken it down into monthly, weekly, and daily performance goals?

Narrow Your Focus to Achieve Results

We have all heard the stories. It is not uncommon for these young athletes to move across the country (or the world) to train under the best coaches. To be the best, they forego typical childhood and adolescent pursuits. Their goal demands that they adopt a singular focus as they train and compete.

Finding clarity about how to achieve your goals as you move forward is significant. You don’t want the busyness or competing messages to detract you from your dreams.

How sharp is your focus? What is distracting you from your goal? What do you need to stop doing to accomplish your dreams? 

Do the Work

Have you seen the young gymnast Simone Biles compete?  A Wall Street Journal article recently described her as a “once-in-a-thousand-year athlete.”  Recent Olympic coverage revealed there was a specific point in her training history that marked a notable improvement in her performance. When she quit school and opted for homeschooling, she invested her spare time into more training and the positive results were undeniable. If more training time can help Simone, then more time training and perfecting our craft, whatever that may be, will surely up our game too!

Have you put in the time? Does your daily work reflect the same level of results you want out of life?

As you sit in your living room and watch the world’s top athletes compete, remember what precedes the triumphant athletes on the medal platform. Each of those athletes defined their goals, narrowed their focus, and did the work to become an Olympic athlete.  And their integrity validates and preserves their hard-won achievements.

The same principles apply to you and me. They’re available to the common man and woman who desire to leave an uncommon mark on their organization, community, or world.  Let’s go for the Gold!