Life Lessons from Sports

There are a number of life lessons that we can borrow from sports. The article today focuses on principles that cause achievement, as suggested by Dianne Holum.

Dianne Holum once said, "To achieve in sports you first have to have a dream, and then you must act on that dream. The best athletes are those who truly enjoy what they are doing and display a tremendous amount of work ethic. They continue to persevere in spite of setbacks and never lose sight of their ultimate goal." The statement contains six attributes of a successful athelete – they dream, act on their dream, enjoy what they are doing, display a tremendous amount of work ethic, persevere spite of setbacks and never lose sight of their ultimate goal. I believe that these attributes do not only make one

Dream
A dream begins the process.  A dream gives you direction, motivation and a focal point. There is nothing that can happen where there is no dream.

Act on that dream
After crafting your dream, you need to take the next step. Move forward.  Do not fall into the trap of presumption or procrastination.  Start working towards the realization of your dream as soon as possible.  Do whatever is in your power to do to make your dream come true.

Truly enjoy what you are doing
Pursuing your dream is sometimes hard work. Truly enjoying what you are doing motivates you to pursue your dream and stay committed to it until it comes true, even if it is hard work.

Display a tremendous amount of work ethic
Closely related to enjoying what you are doing, you have to have a positive attitude to what you are doing.  You will enjoy it more. You push at it more.

Persevere in spite of setbacks
Life's obstacles are not there to hold you back, but to prove you. How true are you to your dream? You should not be distracted by the temporary setbacks, but press on to attain your dream.  

Never lose sight of your ultimate goal
Achieving your dream is all that matters.  The setbacks, the interim triumphs and everything else are just part of the journey.  You should always keep your eyes on your dream.

The principles for one's advancement in life and in sports are pretty much the same.  Like in sports, to achieve in life, you have to first have a dream, act on that dream, enjoy what you are doing, display a tremendous amount of work ethic, persevere in spite of setbacks and never lose sight of your ultimate goal.

Don’t plan to survive 2012 – plan to live!

It is the beginning of yet another year and what a great opportunity it is for one to take some time out and do some personal planning.  This time is useful in giving oneself the much needed direction and meaning in a world that is full of chaos and disorder. But whenever we do this there is always a problem of sabotaging our own success: we tend to plan to survive instead of planning to live.

What do I mean? Well, in the simplest of terms, we tend to plan to mitigate or endure life's hardships. If we cannot mitigate or completely remove them from our lives, then we might as well endure them we tell ourselves as we plan. This is survival. And this is "THE PLAN" for those that plan to survive.  

Planning to live, on the other hand, is planning to utilize and enjoy life's opportunities. Life is full of opportunities and it is up to us to utilize and enjoy them we tell ourselves as we plan. This is living. And this is "THE PLAN" for those that plan to live.

Planning to survive is planning to mitigate or endure life's hardships. Planning to live is planning to utilize and enjoy life's opportunities.  Don't plan to survive 2012 – plan to live!