Your Olympic Rings

The 2014 Winter Olympics are just around the corner and many people are excited to watch the competitors show their incredible skills. However, now is the time for the Olympic teams to be chosen from the pool of candidates. The Olympic trials determine who joins the team and who, unfortunately, doesn’t make the cut. Multiple candidates also have chosen to tattoo the Olympic rings on their bodies as a symbol of their passion and goal. Some people may think that this is extreme; especially because they may not actually get to compete in the Olympics…But it makes sense.

Everyday, these athletes get up and train for an event that comes up every four years even though they have no guarantee that they will even be chosen. Those tattooed rings allow them to continuously visualize their future in the Olympics, giving them the added determination to put the extra effort into making it a reality. 

Some athletes come so close to the mark they need to hit and they still fall short, but they go back and train for another four years to have their chance again.

That’s pure dedication.

Now, given that today is New Year’s Eve and many people will be making their resolutions for 2014…I have a request to make of all of you. If 2013 wasn’t the best year for you or perhaps you didn’t hit the mark that you wanted to in any aspect of your life, remember these athletes. You don’t have to get a tattoo of your goal to be able to visualize yourself being where you want to be, but remember that visualizing and believing that your goal will be a reality is just a step in the process of actually getting there…the rest depends on the effort you put into it.

2014 will be an incredible year, why not make it your year?

Now is the time.

Just a small difference...

There was a man walking along the beach on a summer morning, he saw that where the water met the sand there were hundreds of starfish stranded from the receding tide. With the intense afternoon sun approaching, the man knew that all the starfish would die without being in the water. So he took a few steps towards one of the starfish, picked it up and threw it into the water. He continued walking up the shoreline and repeatedly threw every starfish he encountered back into the water.

Shortly after, another person approached the man and asked him “What are you doing? There are so many starfish here; you won’t be able to save them all. What difference does it make?”

The man bent over, picked up another starfish, threw it into the water, and said, “It makes a difference to this one.”

Sometimes we forget that a small difference is just as significant as a big difference. If everyone made a small difference, we would end up having an incredibly big change. The collaboration of many people taking small steps to help a cause is how big changes are made. Take a moment to think about your actions, because the littlest of things can make a huge difference.

Another brick...another step in the right direction

It was a very hot day in the middle of August and there were 3 bricklayers on a construction site working tirelessly in the afternoon sun. A curious boy approached the bricklayers and asked what they were doing. The first bricklayer exclaimed that he was laying bricks; the second bricklayer showed that he was building a wall; the third bricklayer explained that he was building a cathedral. The little boy took a moment to think about the answers, which seemed to have confused him more. The little boy continued to watch the bricklayers toil in the summer heat and watched the wall grow in size. When they were finally on their lunch break, the boy approached them again and asked each man why they were doing this. The first bricklayer said that he is just doing his job and following directions; the second bricklayer said that he is building the wall to make sure that he can save enough money to buy an engagement ring for his girlfriend. The third bricklayer looked at the bricks and said that each brick that he lays down is another step towards his goal of being the site manager and having the future that his family deserves.

Take a moment to think about why you do what you do on a daily basis. Are you the person that goes to work just to get paid? Or are you the person that has their future in mind and will work hard to reach their goals? Your answer to this question may just make you reevaluate the way you look at your career and your future.