Watch them, study them, read their facial expressions and body language—learn from them. When you study an Olympic champion you’re watching pure, poetic perfection merge with riveted, ruthless commitment. Resigned, like the Terminator, pledged to only one task. What if you did your art or ran your company that way?
Champion athletes practice and rehearse with a head full of fear and resistance just like any other artist or entrepreneur. And you can bet the bank that the beast of doubt will be right there in the starting block, standing toe-to-toe with the champ, attempting one last ditch effort to induce a choke.
However, when the start-gun “BANGS,” and the work begins, the desperate, maddening inner chatter is immediately drowned to death, by the deafening sounds of sweet silence. No thoughts, just the work. Only the work. The work itself has consumed and devoured the doubt & fear, and replaced it with the deepest meditation. The perfect synchronicity when preparedness merges with intention. Nothing else exists while the task is being performed. The dancer becomes the dance, the CEO becomes the risk. It’s like the work itself takes up the space where the chatter was, and a certain respectful reverence occurs—like divinity just entered the space. And while others watch in amazement, the champion athlete, the master artist and the brilliant entrepreneur steps into the arena and confidently dazzles us with their extra-ordinary contribution.
What if you did your art or ran your company that way? Perhaps the work is too hard or the commitment is too much. However, we should all be forever grateful, and recognize, that as artists and entrepreneurs, it’s a privilege just to step into the arena, let alone take home the golden trophy.
Don’t forget to eat your Wheaties:-)