Friday, August 1, 2008

THE CRUSADES - by dougal macdonald Chief Evangalist - 2nd 28 day | Day 20

8 days from now the biggest sporting event in the world begins. We are going to see world records being broken, medalists dq'd for drug use. Heartbroken athletes not achieving their potential and so on.

At the Athens Olympic they were still planting grass during the opening ceremony, by contrast the Beijing Olympic stadium was finished a year ago.

What I'm getting to, is why some win and why do some lose.

There are many reasons but one of the biggest is, winners plan. China does not work on 5 year plans...they have a thousand year plan. In so doing they can focus on the job in hand and get rid of ego since by the time the job is complete they will have been dust for a very long time.

Athletes also have plans....and the champions are the ones who do not deviate from those plans. They are often not the most talented but they are the most dedicated.

To paraphrase the great Carlos DeJesus...Everything you do should revolve around and take you towards the fruition of that plan. From what you eat to who you associate with and what magazines you read should take you ever closer.

However a plan is no good without 100% comittment. If you can't climb inside and live the plan until it's done. Then my friend your goal is not right for you.

So...as I write today, I look forward to watching the games with interest and observing which athletes not only had the best plans, but those who inhabited their plans for four years or longer...Those will be the ones clutching gold, silver and bronze.. and some of them, won't be the most talented.

2 comments:

Marbella said...

Good blog again Dougal! Am excited about the Summer Games and plan on watching it all. Am always in awe with the thin, beautifully formed athletes, and know how hard they work to get where they are. Hope your life is going well too. Bet you have plan after plan. You seem to be going forward so fast now. Have a good weekend.
Lynda

Anonymous said...

The last line of your post is SO true! The one that WANTS it the most will win. Another thing...these athletes have focused so long on this year's games, they haven't had time to figure out what they will be doing when it's over. Some of them may not have a career when the games are done. Kind of like a let down after Christmas.