Are you living your life to the fullest and pursuing your dreams? Are you going after what you want with everything you’ve got or are you just trying? Most people just try. They lack the vision, belief, focus, and perseverance necessary to propel them to greatness.

Scott Dixon was the winner of the 2008 Indy 500. His winnings totaled $2,988,065. Vitor Meira finished in second place and received $1,273,215. The difference in prize money between 1st and 2nd place was a whopping $1,714,850. While Scott Dixon’s effort and focus was probably just a fraction stronger than that of Vitor Meira’s, his reward was over double that of his closest competitor.
Tiger Woods is probably the greatest golfer the sport has ever known. As such, his net worth is probably about 4 times that of any other golfer. He does one thing really, really well and is rewarded handsomely for his effort.
How much greater is his effort? I can’t say for sure but I would imagine it’s just a little. In fact, the average margin of victory for the last 25 years in all major golf tournaments combined was less than 3 strokes.

Perhaps no event in the world better demonstrates maximum effort and commitment than the Olympics. The 2008 Summer Olympics was a multi-sport event show casing the very best athletes in the world. These people understand what it takes to pursue a goal with total conviction. How much extra effort does it take to win a gold medal? Surprisingly, just a little, in some instances.
You can’t mention the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics without thinking of Michael Phelps. Michael brought home eight gold medals, shattering Mark Spitz’ long-standing record of seven gold medals, previously the most gold medals ever won in a single Olympics.

Michael’s eight medals consisted of 5 individual medals and three team medals. In reviewing his individual performances, this is what I found:

Men’s 400m Individual Medley – Final – Sunday, August 10, 2008

Michael Phelps (USA) 4:03:84 World Record
Laszlo Cseh (Hungary) 4:06:16 Difference +2.32

Men’s 200m Freestyle – Final – Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Michael Phelps (USA) 1:42:96 World Record
Taehwan Park (Korea) 1:44:85 Difference +1.89

Men’s 200m Butterfly – Final – Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Michael Phelps (USA) 1:52:03 World Record
Laszlo Cseh (Hungary) 1:52:70 Difference +0.67

Men’s 200m Individual Medley – Final – Friday, August 15, 2008

Michael Phelps (USA) 1:54:23 World Record
Laszlo Cseh (Hungary) 1:56:52 Difference +2.29

Men’s 100m Butterfly – Final – Saturday, August 16, 2008

Michael Phelps (USA) 50.58 Olympic Record
Milorad Cavic (Serbia) 50.59 Difference +0.01

Michael beat Milorad Cavic of Serbia in the Men’s 100m Butterfly by the narrowest of margins, a mere 0.01 seconds! That’s one hundredth of a second, or the speed at which a hummingbird flaps its wings. The average blink of a human eye is 0.10 or one tenth of a second. Michael’s victory in this race was by a margin that was ten times faster than the average blink of a human eye!

The total margin of victory in all five of his individual medal races was 7.18 seconds or an average of 1.436 seconds. That’s pretty darn quick. One Mississippi, two Mississ… Times up! See what I mean?

That 1.436 second average is the difference between silver and gold. It’s the difference between perhaps a few endorsements and those equaling around $40 million a year.

Develop the habit of applying that consistent extra effort, vision, and focus to move you closer to your dreams. But don’t stop there, use a little extra effort in all you do. Once it becomes a habit, it will be second nature. Imagine if your attitude, your focus, your kindness, your belief, and your perseverance were all just a little better. What would that be worth? Priceless.

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Filed under: Action • Attitude • Focus • Mind Power • Success Principles

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