Road to Rio is Paved in the Dark

By Mike Kraeuter

With the Olympic trials finishing up and the Olympics starting I pondered with a friend how some athletes rise to the pinnacle of their sport while others don’t. What does it take to reach that high level of performance? It takes quite a lot actually. There are so many things that go on behind the scenes that people don’t see. We only see the final performance, which, for most has taken a majority of their lives to achieve. Just like a great movie, it wasn’t achieved on the first take. Muhammad Ali once said;

“The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”

This message was reiterated in the Michael Phelps Under Armour commercial entitled “Rule Yourself” where at the end you saw; “It’s what you do in the dark that puts you in the light.”

We live in a world of convenience and right now attitudes a “microwave generation” but as I tell the kids I coach, we all know that microwave food stinks, a good meal takes time and patience and in the end you enjoy it more. There is no instant gratification in what those people are doing to represent the USA at the Olympics it has taken a better part of their lives to achieve a vision that most just dream about. It has taken failure upon failure. It has taken a team of people to achieve that vision. Not one of those athletes has achieved that level of performance on their own; heck anyone that had the opportunity to swim at Olympic Trials didn’t achieve it on their own. They can thank their parents, friends, coaches, teammates, doctors, therapists, etc… just to be able to swim at that prestigious level of competition.

Achieving Excellence

After all this hard work, dedication, time, effort, etc…making the Olympic Team is not guaranteed. So I guess the question we should be asking is; “Why do people do it?” They do it because they love the process; they do it because they have a vision to be the best at what they do, too achieve excellence.

Does this type of process sound familiar? Not everyone may have an Olympic dream but we all have visions of becoming the best at something and we do much of what these athletes do. Whether it is a dream job, attending a dream school, a dream adventure, etc…None of this happens overnight. Achieving excellence at anything takes time. Achieving excellence seems like a daunting task and that is why most people quite before they even get started.

See Your Vision Now

Imagine that you want to climb a mountain; that can be considered a daunting task. Most people start at the bottom and look up and only see the obstacles they may encounter. Now, let us change our perspective and imagine ourselves already at the top of the mountain. What do you see now? You may imagine seeing the outstanding view from high above, which gives you a feeling of accomplishment.

Which perspective sounds better?

I vote for the view from the top. If you embrace the vision of already achieving your goal, when you embark on your journey you no longer see obstacles you only see what could be the wonderful view from the top. All the obstacles you encounter are just on the way to accomplishing your vision or reaching the top. You know you will get around them because you know the outcome of reaching the top of the mountain. Obstacles are no longer obstacles but opportunities you encounter along the way of achieving your vision.

Let’s apply this perspective to a dream you may have. Imagine yourself already accomplishing the goal you have set forth. Now make a game plan to achieve this goal. Any obstacles you may encounter along the way only become opportunities which allow you to become the person that can achieve the vision you have set forth. Some advice when coming up with your game plan:

• Remain flexible in your plan because most things don’t turn out as planned so keep your mind open.
• Enjoy each moment and leave expectations behind. Achieve excellence every day.
• Make smart choices as there are no good or bad choices just good or bad consequences.
• Finally never stop learning, continue to practice life learning from every struggle, setback and failure.

Being Olympic in our everyday lives!

As you watch and cheer on these Olympians achieving their lifelong goal of competing at the world’s biggest athletic competition ask yourself how you can be Olympic in your life’s quest for excellence.