I’ve been at a conference this week which was very interesting. One of the speakers is a legend in the UK for setting up incredible systems. Of his 25years in sport he has concluded (although he says of course it will change over time), that successful pursuit of excellence is the result of 6 main components, and 5 key questions.
1. Day-dream > clear vision > tangible goals. He thought that successful athletes and people are separated by the “day-dream,” level versus the clear vision level. People that succeed have a clear vision of where they want to get to, and then find the path. He gave a great example of people he thought wouldn’t succeed but they had the vision, and the shear bloody mindedness, and have indeed succeeded.
2. In the pursuit of excellence is about leaps of faith & not allowing your ambition to be limited by your surroundings.
3. Things will also go wrong but you have to be constantly adapting:
- Learn quickly
- Battle the dogma
- Question yourself and others
- Emotionally detach from the processes you created that not longer perform
4. Build in time to step back and reflect.
5. Learn to live with uncertainty, fear of failure, anxiety. They create the level of drive necessary for excellence.
6. You need to be fascinated by the process required to pursue your goals, not just the possible outcome.
Key Questions:
1. Are you pursuing your dream you once had? Can you see the vision clearly to success?
2. Is your ambition being restricted by the environment you are in?
3. Do you have enough time to regularly reflect?
4. Are you managing your fears, and anxieties effectively?
5. Are you still fascinated (but not obsessed) by the day to day processes required to pursue your dream?
