By Paula Jager CSCS as published in Natural Muscle Magazine June 2012
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The definition of success is an individual one and varies from person to person. There are however some grounds of commonality. Do you consider yourself a success—in your chosen field, as a parent, spouse, in the athletic arena or in several areas? For most people this “success” involves finding a balance among career, family, relationships, athletic pursuits and other hobbies.
Personally I have found a strong parallel in sports, life and success. While not everyone has played a sport or competed athletically there is much application for other areas of success and the same mentality applies. You’ve heard the cliché “champions are made not born”—there’s a lot of truth to that. While genetics can be a big advantage it takes much more. What makes a person successful in sport or athletic pursuits are many of the same things that make a person successful in life.
Several attributes come to my mind. First and foremost is passion and it must come from within; without it you will create nothing. If you don’t love something, live it and feel very strongly about it you will not be successful. You realize success is a moving target and you continually work to improve upon it. You must have perseverance; a never give up or quit attitude and be willing to do what others can’t when others won’t. Humility will become you; yes there are many “successful” yet arrogant athletes but the ones that are a true success are confident in their abilities while retaining a modicum of humbleness. They seek performance over praise. Honesty goes right along with that; cheaters never win in life or sport and this ties right in with integrity.
You must know how to win and be comfortable chasing victory—thinking about it, talking about it and doing things to make it happen. You must believe in yourself—that you can win, you can succeed—you must realize your potential and that your possibilities are limitless before you can achieve. You cannot blindly follow the leader—you know the essential quality of being the best means you dare to be different and unique in your abilities. You don’t compromise, back down or surrender to pressures when driving towards your goals. You develop the ability to learn faster than your opposition. Improvement comes from learning, learning faster means improving faster, improving faster means winning sooner.
Hate is a very strong word that I rarely use but you must hate to lose. It should be tolerated for one reason and one reason only and that is to learn from it so that you become stronger, smarter, more resilient and better in the future. You will need to have dedication and discipline. Winners are willing to do whatever it takes to prepare to win and pay whatever it costs to be the best. What others see as sacrifice winners see as a lifestyle.
You must accept yourself, being comfortable with who you are and in all situations. You show no fear and handle yourself with confidence. Consistency in your efforts is paramount. One moment of glory comes from years of out planning and out preparing your opposition. You have a dream, a vision and a goal and you will let nothing get in the way of that. You have a clear personal philosophy and set of values knowing who you are and what you stand for. Nothing means anything is this is not driven by action. Nothing will happen without it and unless you make it. You realize that time does not stand still and you have the capacity to re invent yourself staying relevant to the times and situation in which you live.
Living by these “attributes” will not guarantee your success but the chance to achieve it will be greatly improved along with your life in general. Reaching the pinnacle on your ladder will ultimately be determined by your actions. Sacrificing what is necessary without viewing it as such and maintaining balance in other areas can be akin to walking a tightrope.
There are many physical pathways to choose from when you begin your journey to success. The important thing is to begin; it is a process that refuses to yield to demographic boundaries, ability levels and ages. With time and patience you will be able to hurdle any self imposed limitations and take it to the next level. Test your limits, discover what you are made of and physically and mentally prepare for the game of a successful life while life itself becomes a sport.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”
– Aristotle