This Olympics has been filled with many great stories like that of Gabby Douglas, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, and Serena Williams. While very inspiring, there is still so much more that we can learn from these great athletes. Olympians are the best in the world at their respective sports, something that did not happen by accident. Here are five traits many Olympians share that can teach us how to improve our daily lives.
1. They perform at their best in pressure-packed situations.
Imagine that you are in the center of an arena with thousands of people watching and they are all there to see you do what you do best. The margin of error between glory and defeat is small. You only have one opportunity to show everyone what you’ve got. How will you deliver?
We can learn much from how champions handle these situations.
Many people believe they can easily perform under these circumstances, because they hold illusions of how they perform under pressure. But, according to many experiments by world-renowned behavioral economist, Dan Ariely, you are likely mistaken. Most people fold under intense pressure and it takes training not to do so.
With Winning in Mind is a book by Lanny Bassham that teaches athletes to perform at their peak, especially when the pressure is at its highest. As a gold medalist in the 1976 Olympics, Bassham has improved the mindsets of many other Olympians to help them attain gold as well.
Lenny talks about reinforcement and rehearsal as core tasks that make pressure situations easier to bear. It’s best to practice your skill until it becomes second nature to you. Visualizing intense situations vividly also helps prepare you for these events in the real world.
Work hard every day to improve your skill set and visualize how you are going to feel when you land that new client or receive that promotion at work. World class athletes prepare physically and mentally. It is important for us to do the same.
2. Olympians know only a small margin separates the best from the rest.
A line of logic I strongly dislike is akin to this idea on this message board. It states that Usain Bolt is the highest paid athlete on a per hour basis as he reportedly gets paid $250,000 to run a race that takes him less than 9.80 seconds to run. What is ironic is that if Bolt ran the race only a quarter of a second second slower then he would toil in obscurity as an average Olympic runner and would not be a valuable brand.
To become a top earner in our professions, we have to focus on being the best. Just like Usain Bolt vs. the rest of the racers, for us the margin of success is also thin, but the difference in rewards is great. Observations like this can be valuable reminders when we feel like slacking off and not putting in that extra effort to achieve excellence.
3. The time you spend training is much greater than the time you spend performing.
Let’s take the faulty Usain Bolt logic one step further. The writer of that comment fails to ignore the countless hours that athletes spend training to become the best. Natural talent can only take a person so far. Think about how much time Olympic winners have trained to compete in events that only take a few minutes to complete. The same is true for business. When my clients pay me hundreds of dollars an hour for consulting, they are not just paying for my time, but the knowledge and expertise that I have gained through many years of schooling and practice.
The time that you spend sharpening your skill set are deposits into your bank account of human capital. The more time that you spend investing in your own training, the higher your return on investment will be once you become the best at what you do and make others realize it.
4. Behind every great athlete is a great coach.
One of my favorite things about watching the Olympics is hearing the stories about the athletes and their coaches. As I said earlier, natural talent can only take a person so far. Coaches are people trained at getting the most out of a person. I am very thankful for my coaches and mentors who have helped me with my Great Black Speakers and Ujamaa Deals businesses. When you are in the trenches growing a company, important pieces of information can escape you because you may be too close to the situation. Coaches make sure that you notice areas in which you can improve so that you can continue to grow.
If you do not have one, I recommend finding an excellent coach or mentor. Think about the people that you look up to in your profession and reach out to them. You may be surprised at how willing successful people are to help other motivated people attain their goals.
5. Being the best that you can be can inspire others to succeed.
You may not have millions of people watching you like Gabby Douglas and Michael Phelps, but the junior consultant across the hall or the teenager at your church may take notice of your excellence. A person can have all of the potential in the world, but if that potential is not turned into something useful, then it is a waste. Inspiring and motivating others with your success can have a lasting impact on the world by helping others strive to be all that they can be. This is just as important as winning medals.
The list above contains just five things that we can learn from Olympic athletes. I am sure there are many more. What are some of the principles of success you have noticed by watching the Olympics? What additional wisdom gained from watching athletes can we apply to our daily lives?
Lawrence Watkins is the founder of Great Black Speakers, Great Pro Speakers, and co-founder of Ujamaa Deals, which is a daily deal site that promotes black-owned businesses. He graduated in 2006 from The University of Louisville with a B.S. in electrical engineering and earned his MBA from Cornell University in 2010. Lawrence currently resides in Atlanta. You can follow him on Twitter@lawrencewatkins.