Are you an Elite Olympic Athlete…

Right now everyone is watching the Winter Olympics.  It is pretty amazing watching these elite athletes do what they do.  The Olympic Athletes of their chosen sports are no different from the Professional Football Players of the NFL, or the NBA Basketball Players, or Major League Baseball.  The difference is that professional sports teams have a season every year that is highly televised whereas the Olympics only come every four years.

What is amazing to me are the stories of the Olympic Athletes.  Yes we see the highlights of what these Olympic Athletes accomplish in the Olympics, but the stories of triumph and obstacles and adversity is what I like the most.  We are just blessed to see the results of their effort and it is really cool.  They work for four years to do what they do.  They plan, they execute, they train, they work hard to be the very best in their sport. Mediocrity doesn’t even get them to the starting line, it is all about excellence and that takes training and constant development.

But I have a question for you.  What are you doing to be an elite athlete of your chosen sport?  When I say sport, I mean your career or your job, which ever you call it.  Either way, what are you doing to be the best, or the elite your chosen field.

As a Corporate Trainer, I recently reached out to several people who had an excellent opportunity to take advantage of some very beneficial training that most people have to spend thousands of dollars to get, but they can do it for free.  The people I invited I assumed since they have chosen the field they have chosen, they would want to be elite in their field and be the best (some call me naive, but I assume the best of people, until proven otherwise), but instead of taking advantage, they chose to not participate. If you are not training for your success, you are training for failure.  There is no in between.  You are either progressing or regressing.  When a car is in neutral, it will not go forwards or backwards unless you are on a hill.  I believe a career is that way as well.  You are either going forward or backwards.

I recently read that Elite Athletes will do whatever it takes to get an edge.  (Not a Lance Armstrong Edge), but a legit edge.  I believe this should be the same in a company as well.  Whether you are a bank teller, an engineer, a VP of Sales, a sales person, it doesn’t matter (all careers apply) you should do whatever it takes to be Elite in your chosen field.  Why wouldn’t you?  Some people say, “Well I don’t have time.”  Ok, the company doesn’t have time for you to be mediocre either.  Some people say, “This is not a job or career that I want to be in long-term”, then my advice is quit.  Life is too short to do something you don’t want to do.

I will never be an Olympic Athlete or a Professional Athlete.  However, I am working every day to be an Elite Athlete in my chosen field.  I encourage you to do the same, why wouldn’t you want to be the best!