Courtesy: Charles Hartley
You’re looking for any little edge you can at this point if you’re one of the 50 or so Americans headed over to Paris to compete in the Olympics. The bulk of the grueling work has been done. Now it comes down to small things that can you get your hand on the wall before everyone else.
There are three concepts you may want to consider that I’ve found helpful in my life to achieve a little bit more, write a sentence that sings with more clarity and punch like this one.
The first concept comes from a famous Ted Talk by Simon Sinek called “Start With “Why.” He makes the point that you have to get completely clear on why you’re doing what you’re doing. He uses the case of Apple, which launched a branding campaign focused on wanting to get people to “think different” and change the world in profound ways.
Apple led with this “why” pitch before getting into what products they offer and how they work. The idea is people don’t care about what you do or how you do it until you tell them why you do it. A powerful idea you can use to get to the wall first.
As you enter your Olympic races, think about why you’re racing, not how you will swim or what the event is. Are you swimming to inspire people? Are you swimming to reach a personal goal? Focus on your “why” right when you’re on that starting block. If you do that, there’s a good chance you’ll swim faster because you’ll be in the right mindset. “Why” is about your deep emotions that will motivate you to push through the pain.
The second tip I would offer is to embrace a main theme in a thought-generating book titled The Blue Ocean Strategy. It’s about forgetting about competitors, making them irrelevant. Go out into the blue ocean where there is no competition – as opposed to the red ocean where there is – and just do your thing, focus on your own swim.
The rest of the people in the race should not be on your mind because the way you swim isn’t like anyone else. You chose to be out there swimming in the blue ocean where the water is clear and soothing and nothing else matters. There is no one else. Just you.
The third concept comes from a definition of an effective strategy that I have burned into my brain. For a strategy to be successful, it has to be difficult to copy.
As you enter your final days before your Olympic race, think about what you do as a swimmer that is difficult for any other swimmer to replicate. It could be your underwater dolphin kicks. Maybe you do more than anyone or do them faster. Or your breathing could be only once every five strokes which is tough for others to copy. Whatever you do that is hard for any other swimmer focus on that and do that better than you ever have.
Don’t think about who is on the block next to you. Don’t think about your weaknesses as a swimmer. Think about nothing else but what you do that is very hard for any other swimmer to do. Lean into your most differentiating capability.
The business world, like the swimming universe, is all about competition. Improve or go home. The most interesting thing I’ve learned amid all the clutter and ideas and theories is that the best strategies are about eliminating almost everything, deciding what not to do, and focusing on one or two things and doing them extremely well.
The trick is not to take on more but less, to think about less, to narrow your focus, to erase all kinds of things, to get to the true essence of who you are, why you’re here, and what it all means.
About Charles Hartley
Charles Hartley is a freelance writer based in Davidson, NC. He has a masters degree in journalism and a masters degree in business administration.
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A delightful, clear, thoughtful, and READABLE set of three principles we all “know” but of which we all need to be constantly reminded.
The “blue ocean” idea is especially effective, I think!