Perfecting Your Kick: Lessons from an Olympic Champion

Michael Phelps is now the most decorated Olympian of all time by winning his 19th Olympic medal.  For many years, his name has been highly recognizable by all Americans and he has inspired and captivated us with his performances in the water.

However, there was a little publicized incident a few years ago which could have forever altered  Michael Phelps' place in Olympic history.    In October of 2007, Phelps broke his wrist and for several weeks he could only use a kickboard to train for the 2008 Olympics. Because of this injury to his wrist, he could work on nothing but his legs.  His coach later attributed Phelps’ close victory in the butterfly event in the 2008 Olympics to the extra effort he put into perfecting his kick during this time of healing of his wrist.

What a powerful lesson this can be for us today.  Phelps could not control the fact that he had an accident and broke his wrist.  He could not control the healing of his wrist.  He could not control when the Olympics would be held – the date had been set. But instead he made the decision to focus on what he COULD control and worked on that. 

Why?  Because he is a Champion at heart.    A champion will focus on what they CAN control, and work to perfect that area of their business, life, finances, physical health and wellness, and move their focus away from what they CANNOT control.  You cannot control the economy, the housing market, the credit crunch, or the job market.  But you can control your reaction to these events.

Here are some strategies for perfecting YOUR kick:

#1 – KICK OUT negative thinking.   Read positive books, listen to positive teachers, practice positive thinking habits, find a positive mentor, and mastermind with positive people.    In physics, positives attract negatives and vice versa.  But in human relationships the opposite is true.   Negative people attract other negative people, while positive thinkers attract like-minded individuals.  Napoleon Hill calls this the law of harmonious attraction.

#2 – KICK UP your  daily disciplines.    Maybe you have slacked up on going into the office, making calls to your database, or working with referral partners.  KICK UP the number of your daily calls and contacts.  Why not call someone right now for a networking opportunity.

#3 – KICK IN.  The definition of “kick in” is “to become operational; activate…” .   You need to just get up and get to work!  You will not achieve success by whining about the economy, declining home values, or tightened credit guidelines.   You can whine or you can win.  Michael Phelps did not just sit back and cry because he broke his wrist a few months before the Olympics – he DID something.  He worked on another area that would bring him success – he “perfected his kick”.

Phelps trained for five hours a day – seven days a week.  Too many times, we want to succeed, but are not prepared to pay the price.  In today's economy, in just about any industry you would choose, it is about work, and work hard, every day.

#4 – KICK OFF!  That means you have to leave the side of the pool and head toward the deep end.   You must do things differently than you did one year ago.  Phelps could have sat on the edge of the pool and waited for his wrist to heal so he could continue his competition the same way he had in the past –  but he didn’t.   Begin to discover your “kick” and what it is you need to perfect.

Then you simply must get started.  Stop procrastinating, and do something.  You could be the one who sets an Olympic record!

What is one thing you can do today to perfect YOUR kick?