News Taffy

The 30th Olympiad starts this Friday and if you are a fan like me, you’ll be glued to the TV for the duration. There is just something about the Olympics, the athletes and the ideal achievement that inspires us. Don’t we all long to be superior like them?

What do world class athletes have that we don’t and what can we learn from them? Olympic athletes are indeed different from the average person but I believe we can incorporate much of their attitudes and work ethics into our own lives. Here are some characteristics of elite athletes that we’d do well to imitate.

Early on, Olympic athletes found a sport they loved. Some may not have been the best at first, but they loved the sport enough to work hard, train long hours and give up things the rest of us take for granted like sleep or time with friends and family. The lesson we can learn is to find something we love and let our passion take us further than we dream possible. Too often, life intervenes and we lose site of what is important to us. Or worse, we fear failure and sit on the sidelines.

To succeed at their chosen sport, Olympic athletes find a coach to take them to a higher level; they don’t go at it alone. If you aren’t satisfied with your golf game, work with a pro until it’s better. If you’ve always dreamed of completing a marathon, find a trainer to lay out a training regime and a running partner to keep you on track. Working with a trainer or coach will help you learn the right technique and avoid injuries. A coach will also push you harder than you would push yourself. If your goal is to just lose weight and be more fit, find a personal trainer to make it happen.

Olympic athletes aren’t afraid of hard work, they thrive on it. Olympians are the first to show up for practice and don’t take off for holidays. They push their bodies to the limit. One of our biggest problems as a society is that we don’t know how to work hard anymore. We think we do but in reality, we quit long before success is achieved. One of my riding instructors had a saying, “Do what it takes to get what you want.” Work harder, don’t wimp out. Let that apply to every area of your life. The swimmers like to say, “Leave it all in the pool.” Do that and you know you did your best.

Elite athletes are intense and driven to succeed. This often carries over to other areas of their life besides sports but they eat, breathe and sleep training and competing. They don’t understand the word “can’t” but rather prove they can. In light of the growing number of paralympians or amputees competing, it is obvious that Olympians never give up, even in the face of set backs or handicaps the rest of us would consider insurmountable.

This year, let the Olympics inspire you to be more than an observer. Let the lessons these athletes have to share help you to achieve more in your life. As always, get up, get moving, get living.

Until next week,
Lisa