Never Quit On A Bad Day!

Dear Colleagues,

You never know when you will encounter a "teachable moment."

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of flying to Las Vegas to attend a gymnastics performance by the United States Olympic team. Our daughter, Cristi, a practicing attorney in Las Vegas, invited us to attend. I'm glad we accepted her invitation, because it was fabulous.

The entire performance was choreographed like a Las Vegas production, with great music and lighting, a master of ceremonies, professional dancers, kids from the local gymnastics clubs, and, of course, our incredibly talented U.S. Olympic gymnasts.

We also attended a reception with the gymnasts prior to their performance. It was a question and answer session where a multitude of aspiring, young gymnasts were given the opportunity to submit questions to the Olympians. Thus began my "teachable moment" from these outstanding, young Americans.

The first question was, "Can you give an example of something your coaches or mentors taught that really contributed to your success?"

A petite member of our women's gold medal team responded. "My coach's cardinal rule is 'NEVER QUIT ON A BAD DAY.'"

"We all have bad days," she continued, "when you can't do anything right; when you really don't want to practice or be at the gym. But, my coach insisted I finish every practice routine, especially on bad days, because then MY GOOD DAYS WILL BE EVEN STRONGER."

A young male gymnast whom Reno NV is proud to call our native son responded, "I have to thank my coach for teaching me the work ethic that got me to this level. He insisted that being tired or not feeling well was no excuse for missing practice. You need to show up on those days and do your best. It makes you stronger."

Another gold medalist responded that when she was a junior Olympian, she was really inspired by the examples of the girls on the 2008 Olympic team. She set a goal to make the 2012 Olympic squad. But, her parents taught her it wasn't sufficient to just have a long range goal. She had to meet daily, weekly, monthly, and annual goals as well. Fulfilling those made her capable of fulfilling her four year dream of becoming an Olympian.

Another was asked what his practice schedule had been prior to the U.S. Olympic trials. He answered that the year leading up to the trials, he practiced 3 hours in the morning, 3 hours in the afternoon, and another 1-1/2 hours in the conditioning room, Monday thru Friday. Saturday, he only worked out 4-1/2 hours, and rested on Sunday.

I couldn't help but marvel at the poise and confidence of our young Olympians. I thought of the countless sessions and seminars promoting attitude and work ethic offered in our Industry … an attitude I only partially acquired after decades of effort. And, this small band of fifteen to twenty year olds already possesses it in spades.

But, that is why they are Olympic champions. The best of the best. It was an honor to meet them and view their performance.

So, how does this apply to us? Simple.

#1 – NEVER QUIT ON A BAD DAY!

You didn't land that large order or major account you thought was in the bag? Get back to work calling on more prospects and accounts in your territory. You'll be rewarded with GOOD DAYS.

#2 – SET GOALS!

We all need goals to fix our horizon. But, remember to set short and intermediate, as well as long range goals. It's important to see yourself succeeding on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

#3 – PERSISTENT EFFORT IS REWARDED!

Look at golfer Brandt Snedeker, who this Sunday won the $10,000,000 FedEx Cup Tour Championship. In 2009, he four-putted the final hole of the BMW Championship to play himself out of a berth in the same tournament.

I realize these may seem like a lot of work. Actually, they are. But, I've also heard success defined as "Doing all the things that unsuccessful people don't like to do." I recall a maxim from novelist Ayn Rand. "We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality."

There's another way of putting it. "Success correlates directly to effort." It's the path of champions.

Sincerely,



Ross Barker



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