“Don’t run from a challenge. Instead run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.” Nadia Comăneci
The Olympics are about to be in full swing in Paris, France. All the world’s best athletes gather together in hopes of winning a medal. How did they train to get on to the team? What makes them so very excellent at their craft? In all my research, the first step was discipline and routine.
Routine is Essential
My husband does this wonderful yet slightly annoying thing. Now, it’s annoying to me because I am a I’m rolling out of bed hoping for the best kind of person. My husband has a routine that is timed down to the minute. 42 minutes to be exact. He is also an IT guy, so to go along with his routine he has written a program with songs that are timed exactly how long each task should take. Glen Miller’s Moonlight Serenade will forever be fixed in my memory as the “It’s time to wake up and do things” song.
My husband is not necessarily a morning person. In fact he hates mornings. Yet he wakes up with his playlist, rubs his feet on the floor for about a minute then proceeds to perform his meticulous routine without fail. On the weekends he does mix it up with a station called Doo Wop and Rhythm, but the weekdays are packed with precise actions.
Consistency is Key
During the day, my husband has little sound bites to tell him to take a break and to start a new activity. It is all very planned and executed rather expertly. He does have off days but they are fewer than the days he has a routine. One day I asked him why he did this. He said, “I am channeling the mind of an Olympian. In order to be the best they have to possess a stunning willingness to do the same thing every day until they are the best at their craft. I want to live a life like an Olympian because they are the best.”
There is always room for Improvement
My husband’s answer gave me a little pause. First, because I am really a fly by the seat of my pants kind of person. I do have a routine of sorts but I am not nearly as amazingly organized as my husband. I decided to read as much as I could about the mind of an Olympian.
Rigorous Mental Discipline is Essential
First and foremost, Olympians must have rigorous mental discipline before the actual physical work takes place. Why? The body follows the mind. If your mind is focused on performing at its very best, your body will follow. When the mind is disciplined that can make the difference in the body performing milliseconds better and in those tiny seconds they can transfer into a gold medal.
Review Your Performance Often
Once a month my husband reviews his playlist and routine. He sits down with his computer and goes over his program with a fine toothed comb. I often wondered why he did so because it seemed as if what he was doing was working. Once again, I asked him why he was reviewing something that was clearly working. He explained to me that there is always room for improvement in any routine. Therefore, he had to review the program and any aspects of his routine that he could make better or more efficient. Much like Olympians, they spend time focusing on making their performance better.
Channeling Stress in an Effective way will improve performance
If a time is stressful, which most certainly winning a competition must indeed be very stressful, channel that stress into performance. I may not be an Olympian but I am a classically trained pianist. In college I had to prepare for what was called juries. I had to memorize about 70 pages of music and perform in front of a panel of professors. I practiced so much I wish I could have burned the music. When the time came for my performance the stress was about to boil over. In that moment, I chose to channel that stress into my performance. That made for more agility, more musicality and a winning grade. Olympians do the same thing. They channel their stress in a meaningful way to help their performance.
The Curious Case of Elizabeth Swaney,”The Worst Olympian Ever”
This Olympian was particularly interesting. Elizabeth wasn’t a trained skier. She had skied in the water but never on the snow. She decided to compete in a sport called half-piping. This sport is kind of like snowboarding. You come up and down the ramp performing various intricate jumps. There is great risk of injury but the better the jump, the more points received. Elizabeth came to the competition, she skied down the pipe and up and performed no great tricks. While others looked on kind of confused at her performance devoid of tricks, Elizabeth pumped her arms in the air because she made it.
Elizabeth didn’t let detractors take away from her focus
The other competitors were a bit confused but Elizabeth was undaunted. She had a strategy, she completed her very simple routine in competitions with 15 or less competitors. She went to many competitions, skied pretty much the same way and finally in 2018 she qualified for the Olympics. Elizabeth did compete and she came in last place. Some commentators called her a fraud while others applauded her tenacity to attend many competitions and make it to the Olympics. What was her motivation? To inspire others not to quit.
Find Your Inner Olympian
Whether you are Elizabeth Swaney or a seasoned pro, Olympians have one thing in common. They have undaunted focus. In order to improve any aspect of your life it takes focus. They learn from the little movements or positions of their body that slow them down or speed them up. They performed the same task day in and day out for a better and more efficient outcome. They make their craft the cornerstone of their mind and body.
In the End the Result will be Excellence
What is the desired result in the end? Excellence. As with any performer or athlete, you will have off days (and if you do just forgive yourself and start again) but they become fewer and far between with practice. I am going to try to channel some Olympic spirit in my life. I may come out of the gate limping and yawning but I am willing to try. For me my first step will be watching less reels and reading more, giving more to others and trying a better routine. I recently finished a novel. The edits were brutal. I thought if I read the book one more time I might actually throw up. But the end result was a finished work that I could be proud of. That took a lot of discipline. There were times when I did just want to kick and scream but I remembered the Olympian. I leave you all with the words of Mark Spitz, Nine Time Olympic Swimming Champion, “If you fail to prepare, you are prepared to fail.”
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