What you can learn from Olympic athletes

I know a lot of people have recently shown up to work bleary-eyed from staying up late watching the Olympics. Most of us are in awe of the physical abilities of these athletes and think of them as very different from us.

While I doubt any of my readers will ever win a medal at the Olympics, there are traits and habits of these elite athletes that anyone can emulate to help them achieve their goals.

Believe in yourself.

If you don’t really believe that you are capable of lowering your body fat, learning a new skill, starting a business, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, going back to school, etc., you will not succeed.

Remember what Henry Ford said,

Whether you think you can do something or you think you can’t do anything, you’re right.

Have clear and definable goals.

Saying “I want to be healthy” is too vague; it is not measurable. Complete a 5K run, eat 5 vegetables every day for a month, do strength training a minimum of 10 times a month for 6 months, try 50 new healthy recipes, perform a certain number of pull-ups or pistol squats a one leg: those are definable and measurable goals.

Be passionate.

You can’t be bland. The goal has to be something you really want and you have to be totally committed to achieving it. If your goal is based on what another person wants: marital scolding, parental expectations, social pressures, medical warnings, etc. – eventually you will fail. You may be successful in the short term, but you are unlikely to be successful in the long term.

Learn and master the fundamentals first.

Athletes don’t start out by running marathons, lifting million-pound weights, doing triple jumps, etc. They learn and practice the basics and prepare for more difficult challenges.

If you can’t perform a bodyweight squat or lunge with good form, don’t use weights. If you get out of breath walking to the corner, don’t start out trying to jog a mile a day. And, sorry guys, but if you can’t do 25 strict pushups, you shouldn’t load the bar with a bunch of bench press plates.

Let’s be honest, is it really feasible for most people to go from a mostly fast food diet one day to a super restrictive nutrition plan the next? Does it make sense for a couch potato to follow Mike Musclehead’s 25-set body part routine from the latest issue of Muscle & Steroids magazine?

Consistency.

They “just do it”.

Even elite athletes are human. I’m sure many times they feel like staying in bed instead of getting up and working out, but they do what they have to do to get where they want to go.

Whatever your goal, you need to take consistent action. cast they can to be made; we find ways to do the things we really want to do. If people spent as much time looking for solutions as making excuses, their capabilities would amaze them.

Work hard.

Yes, it is obvious, but it must be said. Regardless of your goals, going through the motions will not be enough. If you want to lose fat but can read a magazine while on the treadmill, you’re not working hard enough. If you want to learn to play the piano but only practice 15 minutes a week, it won’t be enough. If you want a promotion, doing a half job won’t get you far (at least in most cases).

Do not allow others to impose limitations on you.

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team his sophomore year. Instead of giving up, he worked and ended up making the team and taking it harder to the state championship. Jordan was named college basketball player of the year in 1984 and won 2 Olympic gold medals and multiple NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls.

Who would have ever thought that a 41-year-old swimmer and mother of a two-year-old could have qualified for the Olympics, let alone be competitive? If Dara Torres had listened to the “conventional wisdom”, she would now be sitting in her house herself instead of collecting more medals to add to her collection.

As Harvey Firestein says,

Don’t accept anyone’s definition of your life; define yourself.