Yesterday, I was invited as apart of the Davis Wheelworks team to speak at Every Man Jack’s (EMJ) Triathlon Team launch at Shift in San Francisco. We got there as they (including professional Ironman triathlete Meredith Kessler, the only woman holding it down with an all male team!) were wrapping up a grueling trainer set coached by Matt Dixon. Sweat, steam, and excellence was in the air. It was contagious.

Our talk to the team focused on getting that mental and physical edge out of your race day performance. These folks (EMJ) are already doing the work, staying dedicated, balancing life and sport, so obtaining that little edge is about addressing every little aspect that could set them up for success, including cultivating a mindset for success. All of these athletes are hungry for success and receptive to information and strategies that will give them that competitive edge.

Talks like yesterday reminded me of why it is so important that we surround ourselves with excellence, and expect excellence for ourselves (that is if we really want it). Wanting, desiring, and wishing to be excellent does not cut it. The thoughts and beliefs MUST match up with our actions. The definition I use for excellence is best illustrated below:

If “excellence is never an accident” (which I firmly believe) where do we start to create it? Let’s break it down…

“High intention”- Intention means aim or plan. Are you reflecting a high aim or plan for excellence in your life and sport? Is your intention in line with your values and priorities in life?

“Sincere Effort” -Sincere meaning free from pretense or deceit; proceeding from genuine feelings. Are you genuinely putting forth your best effort? John Wooden said it best, “I also know that only one person on earth knows if you made your best effort: not your coach, not your employer, not you husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, brother or sister. The only person who knows is YOU. You can fool everyone else.”  Are you fooling yourself or keeping it real?

“Intelligent Execution”- Execution mean carrying out or putting into effect of a plan, order, or course of action. So now that you have your plan are you putting it into action? Are you carrying out each and every aspect of nutrition, planning, recovery, and training with precision? 

“Wise Choice”- Wisdom meaning having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgment. Are you using your life experiences, results, outcomes, failures, and successes as learning experiences and therefore making choices that reflect your best good judgment for that time and space?

Check in with yourself and think about whether you are making choices that reflect excellence or mediocrity. Excellence does not have to mean PR every race every day, it means having high standards regardless of the changing outside appearance or results. It means owning up to the unlimited power and potential that you have as an athlete and person.

Choice NOT chance! What a powerful concept when it comes to excellence. We always have a choice. Not an easy choice but we always have a choice. To choose better, to want better, to want THE BEST of ourselves. As an athlete it is not always easy to encapsulate ourselves with people who want the best for us but we must not let go of our standards and we must be willing to make the hard choices in order to not compromise intention, sincerity, execution, and wisdom.

Be excellent amazing people and shine on!

Dr. G

Check out these previous posts to examine if our outer lives are reflecting our inner intentions:

http://lifewithnolimitscoaching.com/2013/10/19/post-kona-and-evaluate-your-environments/

http://lifewithnolimitscoaching.com/2011/01/01/life-is-a-mirror/

Here are a few pics from yesterdays event and if you are ever in the Nor Cal area you should definitely stop by Davis Wheelworks and Shift SF. These are two business that give top-notch service, owned and managed by people that strive for excellence in service and care.