The quote left unfinished in the title of this article says a great deal about the overall attitude to life taken by the amazing Paralympians in the recent Rio 2016 event. Throughout the games, the persistence, determination, application, and drive to succeed was admirable and absolutely inspirational.
Of course, that could be said of all sports achievements, to be the top in their field, all sports competitors will need a healthy dose of the all the attributes above and judging from the interviews and comments from the athletes they would probably be the first to agree. Regardless of the competition, we can probably all take inspiration from sporting achievement because if we can apply the same drive to our lives, then we know we will increase our chances of success.
Setbacks and difficulties
One thing that was very noticeable in the interviews with the Paralympians was that they would almost dismiss setbacks and difficulties. It was almost as if they considered them unimportant in the greater goal of achieving what they wanted. They did not consider any barrier too great. If they needed to get past it, then they simply found a way to do so. Again here, this is a really positive lesson we can probably all benefit from remembering now and again. Anything that seems to hold us back or makes life difficult is just there to for us to find a way around. One of the traps we can fall into when we are building a career or looking to develop is to only see the barrier and not the way around because, quite understandably, the difficulties we face are often very large. However, there is a very simple and very easily applied way to perhaps avoid the trap. This quote from British Wheelchair tennis champion Jordanne Whiley sums this approach up.
“Even the seemingly small things matter if you want to be successful.”
The athletes at the games were not there based on a single training session or one burst of their undoubted talent. Day by day, week by week they worked towards their goal of competing for their country. Talent and skills are the building blocks of success, not the actual building. Exactly the same is true of our careers and development. If we want to succeed, we need to constant and persistently develop. As Jordanne Whiley says, it is all about recognising that the small things in life build up to make a success.
Break it down into small steps
Whatever your career choice, it is vital to focus on the needs of that career and break it down into small steps. Try to think in terms of what you need to do to achieve the larger goal of things such as promotion, training, and better conditions. We regularly see fantastic inspirational quotes but simply wishing for a better job will not make it happen – a clear plan to achieve it most likely will. At the moment you may well be in a job where the aim of being the Head Chef, Sales Manager, Head of Department or similar seems an impossible task but the chances are that you simply need to break that down into a series of ‘small things that matter’.
That quote in the title is from Jonnie Peacock – Gold Medalist, and in full is:
“I lost my leg aged 5… Now I’m 1.9 seconds behind Usain Bolt.”
Naturally fast, yes but he trains full-time to achieve it. You need to do the same with your career, and we are here to help you get there.