The Olympics Are Here! What Can You Learn From Top Athletes?

We are into the second week of the Olympics and we have seen some amazing action thus far. The Great British Team  have surpassed expectations and gave us six golds in one day! A lot has been written about what we can learn from top athletes; one of the most revealing classic studies was described in Scientific American Mind Magazine. The study revealed that athletes who qualified for the Olympics had the same levels of anxiety and doubt as their less successful peers.

The difference was that the Olympians were better at constantly encouraging themselves. You have to develop both skill and stamina, and you are bound to develop setbacks. By adopting the techniques used by athletes, you can also increase your chances of winning Here are six ways to learn from the world of successful athletes in your marketing efforts:

1. Pace yourself. Set small goals to work toward. Nobody establishes a reputation overnight; they do it article by article, speech by speech, interview by interview, blog post by blog post.

2. Reward yourself for reaching milestones. Have a little celebration when you reach key points in your marketing campaign.

3. Make a list of your previous successes. When you doubt that you’re going to achieve your current goal, it’s useful to remember times in the past when you have succeeded. Probably this is something you recommend to clients, but are you doing it yourself?

4. Get and give support. Find a coaching buddy or group so you can get constructive feedback, help when you’re stuck, and general encouragement.

5. Become aware of your self-talk. If you are saying negative things to yourself, consciously stop and change to positive statements - another one you may be recommending but forgetting to do.

6. Taking a leaf from the book of Olympic athletes, accept that anxiety and doubt are a natural part of the process, not a sign that you should give up.