The Olympic games are due to start in under two weeks.  Years of hard work, determination, planning and preparation will culminate in athletes at the peak of their performance competing for those gold medals.

It takes years of focus, dedication and commitment to get them to this point.  Their reward is standing on the podium, as well as the financial benefits.

Although I only have a passing interest in sport as such and only tend to watch the big events, I can appreciate the dedication and commitment they make to get them to the top of their game and it's impressive to see.

Not only do these people have great talent and a passion for their sport, that has been nurtured from an early age but they also have the support, motivation and accountability of the team around them, including their coaches, to enable them to achieve their full potential and they've put in the hours to get them where they want to be.

(Deliberate) practice makes perfect

You can't become an expert or achieve world class performance overnight.  It takes years and years of practice to master a skill to that level. In fact, one research project estimated that it takes 10,000 hours of training and experience to become an expert or to get to world class level.

At 3 hours a day - it would take 10 years. Not an insurmountable amount of time. Even with 5,000 or 2,000 hours, you could still become an accomplished expert or serious amateur.

Realising that if you want to get to the top or make real and lasting changes, you can't do it all on your own and you need someone that will help get you there, is almost as important as succeeding.

It's also important to realise that we learn by our mistakes. Although, we might get impatient and frustrated when things don't work out first time, we get better with practice.

You could keep doing something you've always done in the same way and you'll never get any better, you'll just stay the same. However, if you want to improve - decide to do something differently.

You can find new ways of doing things, new ways of working that will make a difference and enable you to improve.

Success is dependent on your ability to monitor and evaluate your own performance, so you can keep improving.  Know how to target your weaknesses and broaden your skills and knowledge.

What can you do to improve?

- Focus on your own performance.

- Co-operate with others. Establish relationships that will benefit your own self-improvement.

- Know what really motivates you - your ability and desire to achieve and control the outcome or give you a sense of purpose.

- Understand how your brain works best for optimum performance. Coaches know that peak performance isn't just about physical ability, it's about mental agility too.

- Listen to negative feedback, so you know what you need to do to improve and you can learn from your mistakes.

- Reduce your procrastination and create automatic behaviours so you get more done.

- Select, organise, associate and regulate if you want to improve your learning.

- Know how to motivate yourself and create goals that work.

If you'd like to find out how you could get to the top of your game - start by scheduling a free Strategy session. Just click here to schedule a session today or you can call or email me.

Until next month.