What can we learn from a personal development perspective from Sochi 2014? The winter Olympics in Sochi this month showcases the best athletes in the world in their chosen sports. Many of these sports involve hurling down an icy slope at incredible speeds, or jumping across seemingly vast distances.
But what can we mere mortals learn from these amazing people?
One thing is how they go about their business, or their approach.
First they set themselves very clear objectives; to qualify for the world finals or in this case the Olympics; to be in the top ten world class of their sport by 2014 etc. Clear objectives drive activity and performance and results.
Second they prioritise everything to focus on and achieve this objective. All other distractions are set aside, so that they can focus on the objective and the behaviours they need to achieve this objective.
Third they overcome hurdles. Everyone of them has hurdles to overcome. It may include confidence, fear, time, money, support, distractions, doubt and many more. But each one will overcome a number of these hurdles to achieve their objective.
Fourth, hard work. They work tirelessly to achieve their objective.
Fifth, they are clear on the need to improve. Their focus on improvement is of paramount importance. They don’t just work to achieve, they work to improve in order to achieve. They must be better to achieve.
We could probably do far worse than look to these amazing people to inspire us and learn from their lessons, on how we could personally develop in whatever field of work we live in.