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2008 Preparing for Excellence Series – Issue 12

We got a chance to see some outstanding athletic performances at the US Olympic Trials over the past few weeks. They were thrilling and inspiring to watch. So many athletes performed brilliantly – even setting new world records!

However, as great as their feats were, to be blunt, the results now don’t mean anything in relation to what lies ahead. They were positive, progressive steps along the path we have been paralleling as I have encouraged you to build your business over the past year, but now they are in the past. The final goal of an Olympic medal is still yet to be achieved.

You, too, have been improving and growing your business practice as we have followed this path toward the Olympics and have, hopefully, achieved your own outstanding performances. However, like the athletes with their eyes on Olympic medals, you must keep focused on your ultimate goal, not simply resting on what you’ve done in the past while still expecting to continue to successfully move forward.

This need for laser-sharp focus on where you are going never lets up. In fact, the athletes who have now made the Olympic team, must ensure that their recent superb performances do not become a distraction from their medal pursuits. It could be easy to be content to listen to the media and friends continually telling them how wonderfully they’ve performed and to simply rest in that.

If they desire further success among the greatest athletes in the world, they must be quick to mentally reset after the Trials and start focusing on making the next big step toward triumph. Counter-intuitively, this can be even harder for athletes who have had the most success in the past, breaking world records during the US trials: missing out on an Olympic medal or not reaching their full potential in the main event on competition day at the Olympics will be even more heartbreaking because they know the greatness they desired was within their grasp.

Recognize and enjoy your past successes, but also be quick to re-focus and keep moving ahead toward new success. Based upon your achievements so far this year, what near-future success is truly within your grasp if you really focus and concentrate?

To go from making a national team at Olympic Trials to success on the international stage, the Olympian intentionally does several tasks that you must do also if you want to continue to lift your game. Like the successful Olympian, you must:

1. Review what can be learned from immediate past experiences and carried forward to strengthen future endeavors.
    
2. Daily focus on those things you have identified that can be improved even more, and mentally rehearse what they’ll sound and look like and then apply them when the next opportunity comes.
    
3. See your previous successes as stepping stones toward the success you know you can ultimately achieve.
    
4. Move forward each day as though success has already happened; filter your thoughts and choose your activities as someone who has already achieved what you’re about to do.

The athletes who will be successful next month in Beijing have already dissected their recent performances, learned what they need to from them, and are progressing toward making even more history; when you do the same in your practice, you take another step toward reaching excellence.

Move forward now!
Paul

Copyright Paul Kingsman 2008
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Keep focused on your ultimate destination. Paul Kingsman – Olympic medalist, professional speaker and executive coach – helps advisors exceed standards of excellence they have already achieved to go on to perform outstandingly and successfully reach their ultimate goals. To find out more about how he can help equip you or your team to achieve your own Split Second Success® through his keynote presentations or executive coaching, contact him at http://www.paulkingsman.com.

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