[tweetmeme source=”cbyndas” only_single=false]Last week I was able to sit in on the post race “debrief” with my sons downhill ski team.  Two coaches, two very valuable points of conversation from totally different perspectives.  The first coach Mr. Neighbors shared with the team they had chosen a very difficult sport, one that required near perfection on an individual level.  He stressed that when an athlete came to the race he had to be ready to give it his/her all since nothing else would do.  (Several on this day had missed gates, or blown out of the course) The second coach Mr. Treanor shared that competing requires that once something has happened you take a second to understand it and then you leave the negative event in your past and move on.   Or at least this is what champions do.

I have loved being in high school with my kids for the past nine years since so many great lessons come from this time in our life.  These coaches were spot on with our team, and for every professional I know.

Having worked with thousands of people at many points in their careers I can see those who show up and strive for perfection in what they do are the ones that make it the farthest and feel the most satisfied with their lives.  These are the professionals that are always in training, reading books, going to conferences, joining thought leader conversations, they are never done learning! This is not to say that there won’t be a few “blow outs” along the way. My young ski racing friends know this all to well, some days things will not work, gates will be missed, and falls will be taken, but winners stand up, learn from their mistakes and move on.

We would all be well served to keep our hearts and minds at the level of a high school athlete, every one of my son’s teammates did better the very next race.  I wonder how many of us arrive at our jobs with perfection in mind.  And more importantly how many of us are quick to stand back up after we make the big mistake, learn from it and move on to the next “race”.  There is great excitement with the new year, many hard lessons came out of 2009 (blow outs!) but moving on we learn from our mistakes and have the ability to make the next “race” the best race of our lives!

Kudos to the coaches of the Milford High School racing team, you guys are doing a great job guiding our team in their pursuit of excellence.