Ready, set, go!

And the race begins! All runners jumped out of the starting blocks, there was no false start and the stadium, which was as quiet as it was empty before the start, now sounds like a jet taking off - that's how loud the cheers for the athletes are. The first 10m are done very quickly and this 100m race for the Olympic title will be decided on the next 90m.

Each of the runners has worked for this moment for 4 years, has renounced a lot in order to be here right now, precisely at the peak level of their performance. These approx. 10.5 seconds are the most important of the season - what a moment for the 8 women on the tartan track.

It all started 4 years ago with a dream - to be in the Olympic final of the 100m and to be able to run for gold. Knowing the challenges they would face and regardless of the stiff competition - there are at least 16 women who have what it takes to win gold. They all knew that these 4 years would mean the toughest years of their careers, that they would have to do without lot of things, that they would curse, that they could get injured and have to work their way back, that in the end it would probably not be enough, because only one runner will win first place.

Nevertheless, all of these athletes - and many more - said four years ago: “I want to be an Olympic champion!” And everyone started working like crazy for that dream. Fully focused on the goal, fully focused on making this dream come true.

Now half of the race is over! Another 50m to the big win and on runway 4, our favorite moves forward. She is not the strongest in the first 25m, but everyone knows that the last 75m will decide whether someone else wins gold or whether she - our favorite - will win the race. Her lead is less than 1m, but since she can usually ignite the turbo in the second half of the race and can pull away further, this wafer-thin lead is like a slap in the face for her competitors!

75m have been completed and our favorite, surprisingly, cannot break away decisively. Although she ignited her turbo, the others stayed tuned because they knew exactly what to expect and put everything into this race. 4 runners are almost tied, the other 4 already a little beaten - that will be a photo finish!

90m have been completed, only three of the four who were ahead are in the race for gold, as the fourth has fallen behind and will ultimately end the race on the ungrateful 4th place at the Olympics. The 3 who are in front take every single reserve out of their bodies in order to get that crucial millimeter lead on the last 10m. All of them cheerfully throw themselves across the finish line and none of the three knows how the race turned out for them. All they know is that each of them has won a medal, but the color of the medal is unclear.

Anxious minutes pass as the arbitral tribunal has to evaluate the photo very carefully. Minutes in which all 3 stand arm in arm on the running track to see the final result on the scoreboard together. The first name flashes on the 3, then it takes a few seconds for the other two names to appear. The winner - not our favorite who came in 2nd - falls crying on the track and all the other runners congratulate her warmly. She did it, she won the gold medal. At this moment everything is unclear, hazy enveloped in emotions! She made her dream come true.

What applies to these runners - and ultimately to the winner who made her dream of gold at the Olympics come true - also applies to each of us.

Anyone who has a dream can do anything to ensure that this dream is achieved. It will not be easy, there will be setbacks, you will think about giving up, you might even start to think that this dream was unrealistic in the first place. However, if you keep the goal firmly in sight, if you believe in yourself and if you learn from the mistakes that will be made along the way, each and every one of us can fulfil his/her personal dream.

And here we come back to the start of this article, because if each of these 8 runners in the final had the dream of becoming Olympic champions 4 years ago and if they would have thought of all the imponderables that might come up and prevent them from achieving their dream, then it would be 8 other runners who would be in the final and would have had the chance to win gold.

They had their dream and have started to work on making the dream come true. Their run was much longer than the 11 seconds on the final day of the Olympic Games. Their run was 4 years and 10.5 seconds long.

Taking the first step is the most important thing that each of us can do. But how is that supposed to work?

BREAK THE BIG DREAM DOWN INTO SMALL GOALS

If you always chase a dream, you might turn out to be very unmotivated in the long run, because pursuing something for 4 years not only requires persistence, but also a strong will and - let's admit it - not many of us have this.

It is therefore necessary to divide the big goal into many small intermediate goals. The question of what I can do today to work towards achieving the goal is one of the most important questions that can be asked. What would you like to have achieved in 2 weeks, what in 4, what in 3 months and where do you want to be in 6 months?

Let's stick with our story! A runner who wants to become an Olympic champion must be able to run the 100m in about 10.5 seconds. If she is not yet able to do that, the first intermediate goals are to create the physical and psychological conditions to reduce her current time - let's say 10.65 seconds. She has to build muscles, prepare her body to run even faster, she has to work on her reaction speed to get out of the starting blocks faster, she has to work on how to get to her top speed as quickly as possible and she should work on that to get faster for the first 25m. Stability at top speed is also important in order to be able to maintain it over the distance.

All intermediate goals, right? Some will take longer to reach, others she may take off the list sooner. And every intermediate goal that is achieved will be a motivation to keep going. Will be the drive that the dream is achievable. That the next intermediate goal will be another step on the way to making the dream come true.

STAY ON IT!

Yes, perseverance is required! For the runner in our example as well as for each of us. Because achieving dreams rarely happens overnight and if that is the case, you can tackle the next, bigger dream.

Perseverance is necessary in order not to get thrown off course when the path to the next goal becomes longer, more difficult or when you have to start all over again. All of this can happen because no one who has achieved their dream has ever said that everything always went smoothly, that no challenges happened along the way.

Stay tuned and never lose sight of your goal! Realize that there will be setbacks and prepare yourself for how you will deal with them.

LEARN FAST AND ADAPT

An important quality on the journey will be how quickly you learn and how quickly you adapt your approach to overcome challenges and setbacks.

A master has never fallen from heaven and everyone who has achieved something in life has failed at least 1000 times on the way to that success. Failure is an essential part of success - I would even say that without failure success is not possible.

When it comes to failure, reflection is the most important activity that must be carried out in order to find out why you failed, what was responsible for it and what you can learn from it so that in a comparable situation you can take a different path to take the next step.

Psychologically, of course, it is not easy to deal with setbacks and we all tend to wallow in it extensively. With the right attitude and the right mindset to accept these setbacks as important factors for success, you will get ahead. Do not get stuck in the negative, do not think about the fact that you have failed, but become aware that this path did not work, and that there are many other ways to get to the goal.

The most important thing in the undertaking to make your dream come true will remain to take the first step, because once you have started, it will be easier to cope with all the challenges and situations that arise along the way. Do not stop at the starting point and do not try to play through all possible situations - especially the bad ones - because most of the time this means that you do not even get out there and start. Taking the first step is so important!

What step can you still take today to get a little closer to your dream?

Let me know in your comments and messages!

Sincerely,

Niko