Find Your Own ‘4 Seconds’

4 seconds.

No, this isn’t a blog about half of a complete bull ride.
Or is it discussing kids’ attention spans. (My 5-year-old boy is probably up to about 3.5 seconds about now)

Rather, I’m writing to re-live the near-miraculous feat millions witnessed. On the second full day of competition in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps was no longer the headline — he was simply one part of the world’s fastest 4x100 meter relay.

We all have token memories from past Olympics. Perhaps the USA hockey team’s Miracle on Ice. Or Nadia’s perfect 10. Maybe Greg Louganis’ dive gone wrong. But for me, that relay race has moved into a permanent position as my leading memory for the Olympics. For me, that one race IS the Olympics.

There are a number of factors about that race that make it so remarkable. First, the scene was set with the favored French team trash talking the American team — David vs. Goliath in the water — and America just loves an underdog. Especially when the underdog IS America.

Also, all eyes were on Michael Phelps. The casual fan may not have cared much about the race, except that a gold medal would add to Mr. Phelp’s record-setting medal count.

Then there was the race. No, Michael Phelps wasn’t anchoring the race (usually the fastest swimmer, runner, etc. is positioned last), rather it was another underdog, self-coached Jason Lezak. In the fastest split ever, Jason Lezak caught up to the anchoring Frenchman who began the leg several body lengths ahead of Jason.

All incredible. All of it truly historic. But, to me, all of it pales in comparison to the truly amazing part. The aforementioned 4 seconds. Yes, the US Men’s relay team beat the previous world record by 4 larger-than-life seconds.

That’s absolutely insane. That just doesn’t happen. A few tenths of a second, sure. And maybe on a perfect day, a full second. But swimming a full 4 seconds faster than any race ever is just mind-blowing.

It’s as if they re-wrote the rules: You’re not allowed to beat a previous world record by more than 2 seconds.

The Men’s relay team’s response: “Wanna bet. Just watch us!”

Which makes me think. Are there other unwritten “life rules” that we blindly follow. Like perhaps you make a respectable $50k a year. After you prove your worth, in a couple of years you might be making $55k or $60k. Perhaps in five years, you’ll get to $65k. That’s an example of a typical salary progression for a hard working employee.

Or what if you could take a page out of these Olympians handbook and re-write the rules. Go from $50k one year to $225k the next! Or from $100k to half a million! Who says it has to be gradual progression anyways?

If you’re dieting, the unwritten rules say you can expect to lose one to two pounds a week. Why? Maybe your goal should be losing six pounds one week, eight pounds the next and four pounds the week after.

Whatever it is in life that you’re striving to do, don’t allow the “usual, predictable, average, and typical” tell you what your results will be. Rather, get up on that starting block, face the water below and…

…discover your own 4 seconds.