“There is only one proof of ability – action.” – Marie Ebner-Eschenbach
Getting to the top in any sport is not an overnight process. Athletes who become champions do so because they dedicate themselves to their sport and to becoming the best they can be. Achieving excellence is a process that can span years, so getting there takes commitment and an ability to stay motivated through the inevitable lows and tough times along the way.
Getting to the top means getting things done, no matter what needs to be done.
Success in any field is the result of setting goals, making a step-by-step plan of how to achieve them, and then taking those steps. No one wakes up one morning as a champion athlete, it takes many hours of training over many days, weeks, months, and years to become the best of the best. Those who succeed are action-takers, but not just one-off action-takers, they keep taking the actions they need to take to keep moving themselves towards their goal – one small focused step at a time.
Success = intention + focused action
Repeated Action
Geraint Thomas won the 2018 Tour de France, 11 years after his first Tour in which he finished 140th out of 141 riders. He joined his first cycling club when he was 10 years old and won the Tour de France at the age of 32, making his journey 22 years of repeated action. Along the way he also won two Olympic gold medals and three World Championships, so there were certainly highs, but he also endured plenty of lows, including the removal of his spleen after a crash and a broken pelvis after another. After winning the Tour, he said, “Kids, you will have ups and downs, but believe anything is possible.”
Serena Williams was first ranked No.1 by the Women’s Tennis Association in 2002 when she was just 21 years old, winning her first Wimbledon title the same year. At such a young age, it’s easy to imagine her rise to the top was meteoric, but her journey began when she was just 4 years old – that’s 17 years of intention plus focused action. She once said, “Luck has nothing to do with it, because I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come.”
You see, successful sportspeople are action-takers. They set goals, they make a plan of action, and then they take the action steps necessary to see that plan through – no matter what.
Are you committed to taking the actions in your action plan?
Don MacNaughton is a High Performance Coach and has worked tirelessly to help clients achieve success in the world of sport and business over the past 15 years. The next, highly popular, NLP Diploma and Life Coaching Certificate course starts in April 2019. Click here for more information or to sign up.