Lessons From a Swimmer
Michael Phelps is a name the majority of us are now familiar with, especially in the US but worldwide he is now known for his amazing performance at this Summer Olympics. It was very exciting watching him win each of his Gold medals and make Olympic history.
I did some reading on the life of Michael Phelps and discovered some facts about his swimming career that can be related to not only life but our Internet careers as well.
Michael’s parents recognized his talent and passion at a young age and brought him to a professional coach at the age of 11. His coach told him at age 12 that he had Olympic potential. He is still with that coach today. Despite setting numerous world records over the years, he qualified for only one event in the 2004 Summer Olympics and came in 5th.
Just these few facts can teach us so much.
When concentrating on making Internet Marketing your career you should have 2 qualifications. Talent and passion. Obviously we all have different and varied talents and there are just as many options available for a career in Internet marketing.. Identify your talents. If you don’t think you have any, ask a family member or a close friend.. sometimes they recognize things in you that you don’t see yourself.
Once you identify your talents, you’ll very likely realize that you knew it all along.. What you think is just an activity that you like to do in your spare time is probably a way you’re expressing your talent.. your passion. You might like to scrapbook and while you might not think of that as a marketable talent it encompasses many talents.. creativity, organization, an eye for design etc.
Think about what you like to do and then think about what talents it takes to accomplish it.. you might be surprised at the list you come up with and what you truly are passionate about.
Now that we have discovered our talent and passion, we need a mentor. Someone to coach us in our career, someone we can look up to and trust and know that they have our best interest in mind.
Unfortunately anyone can hang out a coach shingle in Internet Marketing and we all get emails from dozens of wannabees every day.. and it’s not always easy to find one that is right for you. But research and contact, doing your homework, will really pay off here. It may take some time, but in the long run it will save you much more.. remember, your mentor will be with you for a long time.
Your huge success, your long term goals, will not happen overnight. Michael Phelps coach saw Olympic potential in him at age 12 and he is now 23. That was 11 years of keeping his eye on the main prize.. the long term goal. Yes he had successes along the way, as we all will, but perseverance and focus brought him his ultimate success.
He also had failures, or what he perceived as failures, along the way.. but he didn’t quit or he didn’t fire his coach and start fresh with someone else.. he remained focused on his training and his goals.
Obviously these have just been a few, brief highlights of some important lessons learned from a swimmer… hopefully you can extract something that will start you thinking and help you along your Internet Marketing path.
Hi Paula
I’ll keep this sort. In every venture we take up we come to it from an idea to fruition. Along the way we face all kinds of concious decisions we must face and they lead to our ultimate goal.
Your article highlighted some insight which would prove useful to people who need to learn that not everything is an easy ride however a good dose of self believe goes a long way.
Self belief is something you either have or do not have and that is the biggest reason why some do well and others quit.
John Bassett
UK Independent Marketer.
Dear Paula: Thanks for sending me your post about Michael Phelps. I just watched the story from his mother on Good Morning America. A wonderful story.
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Dear Paula;
That is a great blog. Yes you can learn a lot from watching the Olimpics. I think the USA team is a VERY GOOD example for the USA to be VERY Proud off. I watch the swimmers and wish I can get into the water and swim. I don’t have a pool close to my home where I can go and use. I like when Michael Phelps, was interviewed on tv, he always gave credit to his team when they won their meets. I watch the interview they diid whith HIS mother and his two sisters and how they all where behind him and cheering him on. I was glad to read this and ope we can keep in contact. If you have some time go and check out my website:www.jimscornershop.com. You will fine the products that have helped me keep strong everyday. You know when you are in a wheelchair all day and can not walk it takes a lot of energy to move around. Thanks again.
Way to go Paula. Excellent points. Keep up the good work.
Good one,Paula,and very timely,too.Unlike Michael Phelps(awesome!)
I have no special talents(except losing money,perhaps) and no great
over-riding passions.I do like writing poetry(not much good,though)
and making money(not so hot there,either. I am mostly too busy trying
to survive on Welfare(Australian Old-Age Pension is about $150 per week below the poverty line.Yes,BELOW!)
I started a blog in ZenZuu,called TasTalk,but I have no idea how to direct anyone to it.What a Klutz!
Thanks again for your blog!
Brian