Blog | Entrepreneurship

A Simple Tip from an Olympic Athlete

Make your financial freedom journey a little easier

There is a lot of news out there about the struggles and triumphs of the Olympic athletes right now. And while many of us are just hearing about some of these superstar athletes for the first time, obviously, their rise to fame did not happen overnight.

It took years of practice, grueling schedules, special diets, and most important, sacrificing valuable time with friends and family in order to pursue their Olympic dreams. These fantastic stories about beating the odds to pursue a gold medal are truly inspirational.

But one of the stories I came across at Get Set, the official London 2012 education program site, stood out — especially the quote from Paskell Blackwell, captain of the U.K.’s white water rafting team and deputy manager at the Lee Valley White Water Centre (where many, Olympic athletes train). In the video, he states:

“As a competing athlete, I think what’s very important is to make sure that everything is as easy as possible so that most of your focus and your concentration can all be put in the task at hand... making sure it isn’t hard to get to where you need to, it’s easy to find things, it’s easy to store all of your equipment… so that you can just get on with the job at hand.”

Mr. Blackwell really puts the whole goal-process into perspective – It’s all about focus. After all, the Olympic athletes have an extreme amount of pressure and physical and mental pains to deal with. If they didn’t focus on the “task at hand,” they would not be competing as superstar athletes today.

With this in mind, are you following Mr. Blackwell’s advice and making things easy where they need to be easy?

When it comes to pursuing your goals of financial freedom, what are you focusing on?

If you want to become financially-free, make it easy and focus on the three things in the Triple A Triangle™ – Aspire, Acquire and Apply. Set your dream, acquire the financial education you need to make your dream a reality, and then apply what you learn and take action.

We all have many life distractions that can make us lose focus – work, caring for children and aging parents, illness, paying bills, going out with friends, running a household,.. etc. But it’s those individuals who are able to focus on what’s important, like Olympic athletes, who become successful and reach their goals.

As my husband Robert and Donald Trump discuss in their book, Midas Touch, “The difference between wannabe entrepreneurs and successful ones = F.O.C.U.S.”

Well, I think we can take a tip from Mr. Blackwell. If you have a lot of distractions in your life, how can you make them “as easy as possible” to deal with so you can focus on what’s truly important?

One suggestion is to make a list of all of your daily, weekly and monthly tasks and note how much time you spend on each. Then, think about how you can complete these tasks in a more effective and simple way.

Maybe you can save time by completing some responsibilities early in the morning or late at night when others are sleeping?

Perhaps, you can get your children to help you cook, clean, fold laundry, etc.?

If you own a business, how much would it really cost to hire an intern, find a virtual assistant or pay a service to complete tasks for you?

Be creative and think about your future. While it may be an extra expense to hire others to help you, how much is it going to cost you to stay at the status quo?

If you don’t change things and start focusing on what’s important, are you going to be in the same place a year from now dreaming about your financial freedom?

It’s Rising Time!

If you just don’t have time to pursue your journey to financial freedom and are distracted by necessary, “life” tasks, figure out a way to make things easier.

Don’t make excuses.

Get past the hurdles and move forward. You’ve read the inspirational stories about Olympic athletes who had nothing and overcame physical, mental and personal hardships just to vie for a gold medal. Now, it’s your turn.

While you may not be competing for a spot at the Olympics, you are striving to reach your goals of financial freedom -- and that’s definitely something worth winning!

What are you going to do today to make your daily tasks easier so you have more time to pursue your financial freedom journey?

For more inspiration, check out our free, financial education community here.