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.

Practice Makes Perfect…Sometimes

The Beijing Olympics are finally here. And if the competition can live up to the incredible Opening Ceremony, we’re in store for a memorable two weeks.

Naturally, even to get invited to the Olympics takes a total commitment to health, diet, and of course practice, practice, practice. If you’ve ever seen a glimpse of an Olympian hopeful’s daily practice and workout regimen, you may be astonished.

While most of the world — including me — is slapping the snooze button at 6:30am, many Olympic athletes have already been sweating for an hour or two. Then they’re done for the day? Hardly, they’re just getting warmed up.

I’ve seen reports that some Olympians practice upwards of twelve to fourteen hours a day. I’m not sure I could do something fun for fourteen hours a day.

So, in conclusion most people would assume just like the expression that “Practice makes Perfect.” To excel at most anything, practice is vital. To this day, people still believe that 7-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong took performance enhancing drugs. But I would point to his rigorous twelve-hour days on his bike that enabled him to become the world’s greatest.

But for the rest of us who may never win an Olympic medal, we simply want to excel at our life — our career, our wealth, our marriage, perhaps our golf or tennis game, or picking up a bit more speed running or biking. And I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t take 12-14 hours of practice to reach the next level.

When it comes to improving yourself, I feel strongly that quality of practice more than quantity of practice determines your success. After all, we all know of colleagues that come to work early and stay late, yet spend much of their time at work socializing, making personal calls or taking breaks.

And I’m a perfect example of how massive hours do not always equate to incredible results . For years, I would use my lunch breaks at work to go to the gym and workout. Because I didn’t have time to shower afterwards, I wouldn’t really challenge my body. Yet, I knew several friends that worked out just three times a week, but each time they finished their workout, they were covered in sweat.

Naturally, in just a few months, I saw significant strides in their results and relatively little in mine.

So, yes, practice is essential in whatever dreams you wish to accomplish. But unless you use that time to challenge your mind, your body, and your performance, you may simply be eating up valuable hours.

Practice your craft. But more importantly, make each practice count — just like the Olympians.

When www.improveyourself.com is launched on September 15th, 2008, you'll immediately discover many ways to make your days far more productive and beneficial. 

For now, you can go to www.nightingale.com to achieve your own gold in life.