9/05/2008
The Ability To Overcome Adversity
 So the Summer Olympics have come and gone for another four years. And if you followed the Olympics at all, you likely heard about Michael Phelps and his record-breaking performances. Without question, he achieved the ultimate success in the sport of swimming. Throughout the games, we all heard the comments that he was super-human or fish-like, as well as a host of others that insinuated he somehow had an advantage over the other swimmers. In my opinion, he absolutely did have an advantage, and it wasn’t the length of his feet or arms or torso, it was his ability to overcome adversity. He didn’t just show up in Beijing a champion, he showed up with a history of both losses and wins, and clearly he learned from those losses how to be a winner. Let’s face it: Whether it is the Olympics or a business opportunity, no one wants to show up and lose. We go there (wherever “there” is), for one reason and one reason only: TO SUCCEED. When Phelps arrived at the 2000 games in Sydney, there is no doubt he wanted to win it all…but he didn’t. Four years later, a stop in Greece and although improved, he still experienced some loss. I imagine that the losses ignited a fire that allowed him to learn from his past mistakes. Whether it was his start, his turn or the number of breaths he took, we will never know, but clearly Michael made the necessary changes to achieve the ultimate success. The same can be true for all of us with our business and marketing efforts. We have all spent money on ineffective advertising or wasted time on a project that returned little or no result. And truthfully, that is OK, because it is through these mistakes that we improve ourselves and our businesses. As long as you learned from the mistake, recognized what went right, what went wrong and made the necessary corrections moving forward, then actually it was a success. Without mistakes and losses, I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today. Would you? Labels: adversity, business writing, marketing, small business marketing |
