The Invisible Mentor

Going for Gold

February 17th, 2010 |

: Image via Wikipedia

This post was inspired by the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. On Monday, a friend invited me over for dinner, Family Day, a holiday in a few Canadian provinces including Ontario where I reside. She has been glued to her television watching the competitions. I hadn’t watched any of the competitions so far and took the opportunity to do so.

We watched snowboarding and what an adrenaline rush, and I wasn’t even competing. Of course as a Jamaican-Canadian I was rooting for Mike Robertson, the Canadian who was a very close second behind the American competitor, Seth Wescott. For a while Robertson was leading, but Wescott took the lead at the last minute to win the gold medal. Both Mike Robertson and Seth Wescott are winners in my book.

There are times in life when we give it all we have and yet we do not win. There is no reason to feel badly because we did the best we could with what we had. Unlike the Olympics, in the absence of competition, how do you test yourself to ensure that you show up as your best self most of the time? What activities do you perform daily to ensure that you become better and do not stagnate in your field? How often do you Go for the Gold in life?

Who do you have in your support network to coach, mentor, motivate, inspire, challenge and question you, so that you reach deep within to draw on your reserves to eke out a little bit more even when you think you have nothing more to give?

WE all need a support network of people to help up show up as our best selves most of the time. In what ways are you similar to athletes? What leadership lessons can you learn from athletes?

P.S. I will be rooting for Errol Kerr who makes up the Jamaica Ski Team. Kerr a freestyle skier, is doing the unexpected. It doesn’t matter whether he wins or lose, the point is that he tried and the point is that he showed up, and the point is he went against the grain.

Keep the conversation flowing. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

For your research and writing needs, consider my firm Ambeck Enterprise for white papers, articles, fact sheets, anniversary booklets, you name it. Since I am the best kept secret you may not know this, but I have over 15 years research and writing experience. I KNOW content. And if you cannot figure out which books to read for professional development, I am your WOMAN, I can assist you with that too.

Photo Credit: Zemanta

4 Responses to “Going for Gold”

Josh Hanagarne says:

February 17, 2010 at 5:21 pm

Avil, I would like you to be the first in my new winter olympics event. You will ski jump onto the back of a bull. You will then ride the bucking bull as long as possible. The bull is standing on an icy lake. After you fall in, you swim to the edge. When you reach the edge, the clock stops. What do you think? If that doesn’t suit you, would you come write a guest post for me instead?

Avil Beckford says:

February 17, 2010 at 6:38 pm

Josh,

Anything has to be better than that event. Yes I live in Canada, but I have never been skiing and yes I was born in Jamaica but I have no idea how to swim. So in the scheme of things it’s safer for me to write a guest blog post. I graciously accept.