Since I was a small child, I have regularly heard the phrase ‘life wasn’t meant to be easy’, and whilst there have been times growing up when some things were easier than others, I have come to learn that anything worth achieving is actually worth fighting for. Now when I say fight, I am not suggesting physical violence between people where there is a winner and a loser – I am talking about fighting for what you believe in, and fighting to hold onto your dream or your goal.
The world is filled with people who have achieved great things, who ‘appear’ to have it all – fame, fortune, success, lifestyle and any other relevant measurement of achievement. However, when you delve a little deeper beneath the surface, you will discover that the success they achieved was very rarely achieved overnight – in fact, in the majority of cases, success took time, it took blood, it took sweat, and I guarantee it took tears. But to the outside world, these ‘successful’ people appear to have ‘made it’. And this got me thinking – how did they do it?
I was sitting in a movie theatre today and one of the movie previews was the upcoming motion picture ‘Eddie The Eagle’ – the true story of Eddie Edwards, who in 1988, became the first skier to represent Great Britain in Olympic Ski Jumping. Now whilst he was not ‘successful’ in terms of winning medals at the Olympic Games, Eddie’s dream was to represent his country at the Olympics. Whilst he was a good downhill skier, he narrowly missed qualifying for the Great Britain team in 1984, and so decided to move to New York to train and compete in races of a higher standard. He quickly found himself short on funds and so made the decision to switch to ski jumping. He had no equipment of his own, and so he had to borrow equipment from American ski jumpers to train and compete. Whilst he trained hard, he had numerous obstacles to overcome, not least of which was no sponsorship. He was also significantly heavier than any other ski jumper in the world at the time and was very far sighted, meaning he had to wear very thick glasses under his goggles which would fog up at high altitude.
Despite these obstacles, Eddie managed to represent Great Britain in the 1987 World Championships, where he ranked number 55 in the world, resulting in him qualifying for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. During the 1988 Winter Olympics, Eddie finished last in both the 70m and 90m ski jump events. Despite his lack of ‘success’, his popularity around the world grew significantly, winning praise for the true Olympic spirit he demonstrated as an amateur athlete who wanted to represent his country and perform to the best of his ability. Now history tells us that the International Olympic Committee subsequently implemented a rule which became known as ‘The Eddie the Eagle Rule’, requiring Olympic aspirants to qualify in the top 50 global competitors, thereby setting a minimum performance criteria. However, the Olympic spirit shown by Eddie is best captured through comments made by the President of the Organising Committee, Frank King, at the closing ceremony, when he said, ‘At these Games, some competitors have won gold, some have broken records, and some of you have even soared like an eagle!’
Now whilst Eddie did not achieve what many would consider to be ‘success’, there are still some great lessons to be learned from him, including :
- Never under estimate the power of a dream. The dream is what will keep you energised when you are confronted with obstacles, and of course, rejections. It will allow you to continue to put one foot in front of the other and move forward. Imagine what the world would be like if J.K.Rowling had have quit after the 1st rejection notice. There would be no Harry Potter! In fact, J.K.Rowling was rejected by 12 different publishers before the 1st Harry Potter novel was published. How important is your dream?
- View obstacles and challenges as stepping stones to success. Remember, nothing worth achieving is not worth fighting for. If you are not encountering challenges and obstacles, then something is wrong. These are inevitable – embrace them and know that you are moving in the right direction.
- Develop a solid game plan and implement it. It is great to have a dream to achieve, however, without a game plan to follow and specific actions to be taken, the dream is really just a wish. Take massive action – this is what Eddie did, jumping more than 60 times every day, in order to maximise his opportunity to achieve his dream. What action can you take right now?
- Enlist the help of a great support team. Whether you like it or not, nothing is ever achieved alone, it is always a result of a team effort. Who do you have in your corner to help you, to support you and to encourage you, especially when you feel like stopping or giving up? Surround yourself with people you trust.
- Stop comparing yourself to anyone else. Even though you may be operating in a very competitive environment, the only person you should be comparing yourself to is yourself. Continue to set new benchmarks for yourself and measure yourself against these, not against others.
- It is important to identify a role model to follow. Find someone who you respect and admire, who has achieved what you are seeking to achieve, find out how they achieved the results you are looking for, and then model them. Remember though, do not compare your results with theirs, compare them with your own benchmarks.
- Make discipline & persistence your best friend. Understand that you will make mistakes, that you may fall over, and you may even be ridiculed for what you are seeking to achieve. However, if you hold firm to what you believe in and continue to move forward, you give yourself every opportunity of achieving your dream. It may not be easy, however, it will definitely be worth it.
You may not be a ski jumper or an aspiring Olympic athlete. You may be a salesperson or sales leader looking to make your mark on the world and achieve your version of greatness. Know that anything is possible and if you follow these principles, you have the opportunity to achieve your dream.
To your continued success.
If you want to know how you can better persuade and influence your team, send me an email at darren@darrenmitchell.com.au
Darren
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Darren is a Sales Leadership and Sales Performance Coach, Facilitator & Speaker. He is an experienced and committed coach with a background of sales leadership success in large organisations. He applies a genuine focus to coaching and developing high performing sales leaders who are looking to unleash the potential of themselves and their teams.
