An Elite Performance
During the 1976 Olympics, American swimmer John Naber won four gold medals and one silver medal. In doing so, he set four world records, two individual and two team relay events. But four years earlier, you would not think he would have achieved such historic accolades.
In 1972 as a high school swimmer, Naber watched Mark Spitz win seven gold medals all in record time. Spitz’s legendary performance inspired him to attempt to become an Olympian as well.
As told on pages 288-289 of John Maxwell’s excellent book Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices To Guarantee Tomorrow’s Success, Naber needed to lower his swimming times by four seconds over the next four years. While this does not sound like much to you and I, at the elite levels of competition this would be like climbing Mount Everest.
But Naber broke this lofty goal down into bite-sized chunks. If he could improve his times by a tenth-of-a-second each month for four years, he would have the potential of being one of the best swimmers of all-time. Obviously, he went to work and achieved his lofty goal.
4 Lessons on Achieving Elite Performance in Your Profession
Naber’s story teaches us the following four lessons on achieving elite performance in our chosen professions:
- Plans Matter – No one defaults or drifts into elite performance. Naber certainly didn’t drift into four gold medals and world records. Goals must be set with a strategy to achieve them.
- Embrace The Journey – On page 286 in Maxwell’s book, he quotes Eugene Griessman who noted that it takes most chess grand masters fifteen years before winning their first title. You must love the process more than the result to achieve elite performance.
- Marginal Gains – Smart leaders prioritize daily discipline over big moments. When you get incrementally better on a daily basis over a long period of time, success is sure to follow.
- At Elite Levels, Success Is Measured In Fractions Of A Second – If you develop a good plan, embrace the journey, and continually make marginal gains along the way, you have a chance to deliver an elite performance. This is important because the difference between success and failure is often razor-thin. On February 25th, Daniel Suarez defeated Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch in an Atlanta NASCAR race by only .003 seconds. A picture of the photo finish is shown below. An example is also in the world of sales. One sentence or positioning of an idea can be the difference between securing a partnership or not. Political elections can hinge on a single statement which would be played on a loop over and over again. Little things are big deals at the elite level.
Conclusion
Let me repeat, if you develop a good plan, embrace the journey, and continually make marginal gains along the way, you have a chance to deliver an elite performance. And remember the difference between success and failure will likely be just fractions of a second.
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