How the Advice of Olympic Athletes can be Helpful for Businesses and Life

This week I’ve thought a lot about an interview with Michael Phelps when the 2020 Olympics was delayed. The interviewer asked him how elite athletes handle the change? He mentioned that Olympic athletes have one goal in mind and develop a plan to reach that goal. When circumstances change, they take a day or two to absorb the information, regroup, and adjust the plan. That got me thinking about how this applies to business as well as everyday life.

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In business when things are booming, opportunities are everywhere. There are so many options that sometimes it’s hard to pick just a few to prioritize. However, being able to focus on a few sets a company up for success. Apple is a great example of this. They don’t try to be everything to everyone. They focus on a few core areas and excel at them.

When entering a state of economic uncertainty, the same applies. Even when companies are focused on a few key initiatives, when the economy becomes turbulent it may be best to focus on just one or two to weather the storm. Refocusing on initiatives that can move the needle and gain momentum keeps employees and shareholders happy.

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In life, having a goal sometimes becomes harder. There may be a professional goal, family goal, personal goal, or if you’re like me…a pet goal (let’s face it, they run the house). And once you decide on a goal, there is the constant buzz of negative news stories that seem to fill up your inbox, Slack, social media feed, and happy hour discussions. This is on top of dealing with a pandemic that seems to never be going away and additional new stories that make you shake your head in confusion. Can the insight that Michael Phelps has as a former Olympic athlete help in everyday life?

I think it can. When training for the Olympics, athletes must block out the ‘noise’ around them. Surrounding yourself with people and things that keep your positive energy up and eliminating things that drain that positivity is key to achieving your goal. Sometimes it’s as easy as going to dinner with friends and setting the guidelines of no discussions about [insert any of a hundred possible topics here] or not reading any social media feeds for a week or as hard as not talking to an acquaintance that is always full of negative news.

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In addition, those various personal goals can usually be consolidated down to one. For me, it comes down to having a happy life with my hubby. That means everything feeds into that – exercising to reduce stress and be at a weight I am happy with while still eating pasta and drinking wine, dogs that are well trained (or on their way to being), and a job that supports that lifestyle. It doesn’t mean that you achieve that goal every day, some days are definitely easier than others, but it means that you are working toward that goal each day.

Not everyone will be an Olympic athlete but it doesn’t mean that the focus they have to achieve something extraordinary can’t be applied to companies or everyday life.?

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Rhonda Giedt is a marketing executive focused on solving challenges to spur revenue growth in companies. She has experience marketing companies in SaaS, manufacturing, and 3D printing. She is also an avid sports fan of college football, golf, premier league football, and many others.

She is also an ambassador to the PEAK community and mentor to marketing and business professionals.