Being an Olympian; the margins, flow and success

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you've already mastered, you cannot grow." - Richard Osborn

We watch athletes perform and find ourselves in awe of them. Perhaps inspiring us to do that thing in our lives we delay. Or perhaps spurring us to do more, or do better, or simply to just do. There is a question then of what it takes to be an Olympian?

I am not an Olympian (Don't worry, I sense your shock at that fact) but I can speak to how athletes move from mindset A towards mindset B to execute skillset C and achieve goal D. Along with having had the privilege to speak and spend time with athletes and those who support, coach and challenge them on the way to success. So I will ask again, what does it take to be an Olympian?

1. Mindset

Sport is competitive and pits one person or team or squad against another. Ultimately there will be a winner. The mind is a tricky thing and we need to calibrate it and check in regularly to ensure it remains calibrated. We quite literally set the mind.

I have a delivery mindset, one which values planning and preparation but instinctively feels when it is time to do. It is at that point when I am at my best - focused on the outcome, protecting the people delivering with me, and ensuring the outcome remains the correct one.

This does mean I may need to let go of some things when I, or others, don't wish it. Some people may not wish to come along who I'd like to come along. There may be external noise around me to distract (or to seduce) away from delivery. However, I have set my mind, I am checking in regularly, and I have the support around me to keep my mind set healthily.

Edward J. Olmos is quoted as saying "I have the discipline to do the things I love to do, when I least feel like doing them." Less than 20 words and yet do you feel the heartfelt wisdom in those words? Mindset. Do you have your mind set to the goals and aims in your life?

2. Capability

Whether we wish to call them competences or skills, the simple fact remains that we must be able to execute. I would not dream of throwing myself off a 10m diving board simply because I have read about diving, I've watched it, and I've spoken to those who do it.

One could argue I have some knowledge but I would have no ability to deploy that knowledge. I have the capacity in so far as I have a body which works (most of the time) and I have access to the equipment which is required to do it. So what's the delta? The delta is capability which I am defining as the effective deployment of knowledge with learned skill(s) in achieving a task or goal. We build capability by gaining the knowledge, doing tasks, baselining ourselves, regularly assessing performance, adjusting and repeating.

Back to diving, how do I get up there and throw myself off a 10m diving board? I'd start by realising diving is not throwing oneself off a board, and neither do you start at 10m. I'd practice the skill in a safer, more controlled environment. Perhaps a dry pool. I would have a coach or a skilled diver or maybe a team to support in critiquing my form. I would work on my body strength and conditioning in the gym to support the work I am doing. I'd be fuelling myself in the right way so that my body is working at it's most efficient. I'd take all of this work and try it from poolside, then perhaps a 1m board, and a 3m board beyond that. Each time, I'd be critiquing myself and listening to the feedback from those around me. At some point, I go up to 10m and try it before it becomes a mental block or a 'beast of the mind'. With the benefit of the knowledge I had, the skills I have built, and the experience of expertise around me, I dive.....and repeat. Which capabilities do you need or want in your life, are you putting in the work to build, develop and finely tune them?

3. Self-mastery

We are complex beings, even if we are relatively simple (and pretty terrible) animals. Though that complexity can be simplified when we think of our internal alignment - mind, heart and gut.

Our mind analyses everything, constantly, and does so to help us make a decision, or to not repeat a bad experience, or to encourage us to repeat a good experience, or to simply understand our life. Beyond the answer 42, though, one could suggest the job is never done which is why our mind is so active. For some of us, too active. Exhaustingly active. Even now I have around 50 different thoughts processing along with around another 20 creative ideas waiting in the wings. My mind is that child, similar to my nephews, who in response to any answer can find a way of asking "But why?". The mind helps us to learn, reason and make decisions about what we do in the world whilst remembering those experiences for future reference.

Our heart is feeling everything, pretty much also constantly, whether we listen or not, whether we accept it or not, and whether we wish it or not. I add the final point because traumatic feelings are felt too, even if the mind leaps in to try and distract, avoid and move us on. The feeling though, needs to be respected, and felt. The heart helps us to relate into the world with empathy and expression whilst regulating our emotions.

Our gut is facing everything, yes constantly too, and giving us those first indications. Is this safe? Do I like this person? What should I do? Instinctive responses which help us get started (or not). The gut helps us to intuit how our body is reacting to our actions and those of others around us.

It is from the awareness of these three fundamental and integral parts of ourselves we can achieve a mastery of self. We are able to face outward whilst aligned in ourselves. We are tuned in, thinking (just enough), feeling (just enough) and intuiting (just enough). Having been able, recently, to come back to this feeling of alignment I can share it is amazing, joyful and peaceful. I am lighter, brighter and more energised which are not words I have used, but are words others have attributed to me. Are you tuned in to your mind, heart and gut? How aligned are you at the moment?

4. Awareness

We have the mindset, we've gained capability, we sense our alignment. Right, let's go, yes? There is a but. You knew there would be. If we want to achieve success in a world of margins, perhaps we need a little more. We need that awareness of forces around us and how we can exist and work with those forces. Are we just carried along by them, or are we in flow with them, or are we actually fighting against them?

People may recall I have written about the river analogy. There is a natural flow to a river. It meanders, rises, falls, accelerates, slows but, all the time, flows. If we observe animals which live on the river, we would witness their awareness of this flow. One could argue that without thinking, those animals know where we swim along with the river, when to change direction with minimal effort, and when to step out (perhaps) for a time but always to return.

Until recently, I had only ever experienced this in the gym when in a particularly involved workout, or when swimming in open water (swimming for nearly 22 hours across 31 miles of tidal water means you have little choice!). It's that moment where we are exerting the minimum effort for the maximum gain without too much active thinking. In those moments, we are aware and open to the opportunities and invitations which present themselves. Otherwise we would miss them entirely or perhaps overthink a response to them. How aware are you of the flow in the world?

5. Doing

Do I need to say more? In our doing, though, we hold close some critical values; respect, discipline, sportsmanship, enjoyment, teamwork. We watch out for those around and following us to include, encourage and elevate their success. We do it.

"Everyone has a talent; but rare is the courage to follow the talent to the places it leads." -Erica Jong

What does it take to be an Olympian?

The answer is, I suspect you knew, the same as it takes to be the best leader; the best professional; the best friend.

Find what it means to be the best version of yourself, respect and be happy with that version of yourself, and then step forward to take that person out into the world. And do.

I'll let them know you are coming.

Chartered Management Institute

The RSA (The royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce)

CQI | The Chartered Quality Institute

Major Projects Association

Association for Project Management

Society of Leadership Fellows

Team GB