Usain Bolt Won Olympic Gold Because Someone Was Chasing Him – Who is Chasing You to Meet Your Goals?
August 13, 2012If you saw the Olympic 100 meter sprint final in men’s track, the “world’s fastest man” race, you saw two Jamaican runners cross the finish line one right after the other. When I watched from my TV at home, I saw their bodies holding steady and their feet in a blur like the roadrunner cartoon. They were running so fast, my eyes couldn’t keep up with the pace and those neon yellow green tennis shoes just looked like big glowing circles to me. Usain Bolt defended his title in the race with 9.63 seconds and won gold but he was followed closely by his team mate Yohan Blake at 9.75 seconds said, “When you are sleeping, I’m working. I’m toiling through the night.”
Earlier in the Olympic qualification rate, Yohan beat him in not one but two separate races. Usain Bolt took notice because, frankly, we run faster when someone is chasing us. It is human nature, of course. Usain should send his teammate a thank you note for spurring him on to train harder and to run faster to win gold.
Every quarter (as you probably do too), I get spurred on at work with my quarterly evaluation – how it went last quarter and what is next for this quarter. Every quarter we stretch to do either something new or improve what we are doing now, striving for “role model” performance or as I like to refer to it, as “rock star.”
At home, is anyone pushing us with our own personal financial goals? Who is chasing us to push us to do better? The sad truth is probably no one. Unless you have a spouse, partner, financial planner, or financial coach to push you, it’s all on you. You have to motivate yourself and if you are like me (and a lot of other people), you’ll tend to put things off that aren’t urgent and focus your attention elsewhere (like sitting on the couch watching the Olympics on TV). Since we don’t each personally have an Olympic silver medalist literally chasing us and trying to beat us to our goal, what are some ways we can motivate ourselves?
Set S.M.A.R.T Goals – goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. Setting unrealistic goals tends to be a demotivator rather than a motivator. This “daily savings calculator” can be very motivating by showing how saving a small amount each day can add up.
Track Your Progress – as the saying goes, “we pay attention to what we measure” so track your progress. If you are saving for a specific goal, use the “saving for goals” calculator to determine the amounts you need to save and track how you are doing. If your goal is to eliminate your debt, use the “debtblaster” calculator to see how long it will take you to get of debt and how many months you can shave off by adding a few extra dollars each month. Save it to your desk top and review it at regular intervals.
Enlist the Help of a Coach – just like people who hire a personal trainer get a double benefit, the expertise of the professional is one thing but simply having the appointment makes going to the gym easier. Research has shown that people who got advice on their 401(k) investments actually have achieved higher returns (a mean of 3%) than those who didn’t use “help.” Part of this could be because those working with a “coach” stuck with their strategy through good times and bad.
If you have unbiased financial guidance through your employer, take advantage of the opportunity to meet with a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional either in person or through phone counseling. Hire a financial planner to set up a financial plan for you – here is a link on how to find one (click here.)
These Olympic athletes didn’t get to their final races by accident or a stroke of luck. They started out with the dream of attaining Olympic glory and they put together a plan to get there – for them being the best in the world was a realistic goal! Then of course, they made incredible sacrifices and put in the grueling training hours needed. Each and everyone one of them was also being chased by many other athletes who were younger, faster and stronger who all wanted their spot in the finals. We may not be able to fully recreate the urgency one feels when being chased by someone who wants to take our spot, but we can try.