What did you do with your weekend?
Posted by Asa Beavers on Wed, Jul 09, 2008 @ 08:02 AM
While many of us were enjoying a long holiday weekend relaxing, one American went about setting a record that maybe only those of us over 40 can fully appreciate.
Dara Torres, a 4 time Olympic swimmer, qualified for her 5th Olympics in both the women’s 50 and 100 meter freestyle events. At the age of 41, she becomes the oldest American swimmer to ever compete in the Olympics, and over the weekend she won the 50 meter event at the Trials – some competitors were half her age - and set an American record to boot.
Genetics aside, she’s got something special that all of us possess but only few can ever fully tap into. She has that inner drive that only people who achieve world class status in their endeavors know about. You know who I’m talking about: Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Bill Gates, and the like. In some people’s eyes they are super human; if not of body, certainly of mind.
Not all of us are going to achieve world class status, yet there are ordinary people with strong innner drive among us doing extraordinary things everyday. These are people who aspire to do more and are willing to put forth the effort to achieve something they desire. And guess what, they do have something in common with those who achieve world class status. They know how to go about goal setting. They surround themselves with coaches and advisors. They develop and implement a plan of action. They have the discipline to follow their action plan. And maybe most important, they are passionate about what it is they wish to accomplish.
Earlier this year I felt I needed something to push myself out of my comfort zone so I added a new challenge to my life. I made the commitment to complete a half Ironman Triathlon in September. Just to finish will be an extraordinary feeling of accomplishment for me. It won’t put me up there in the “world class” status, but my family and friends will think it’s pretty extraordinary.
So what was my weekend like? Training and looking forward to that feeling…
How about you? Are you or someone you know working toward a goal that others may call extraordinary?