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33 CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE The difference between drowning and winning an Olympic medal

Consider two people in the middle of a pool: one drowning, one in the process of winning an Olympic medal. Each is trying hard, but one has a practiced strategy for moving by coordinating the motion of arms and legs, while the other is flailing desperately. Each is highly motivated, but one will be successful in achieving something wonderful and the other will fail in avoiding something terrible. Trying hard is not enough. You need to be trying in a practiced and disciplined way if you are to be successful.

A person, a family, a business, a nation, and the world suffer from the impact of uncoordinated, undisciplined effort on a regular basis. Without a shared mission or goal (the topic of the next chapter), agreement as to how each member will contribute to that mission or goal, and preparation by each member to fulfill those roles, there will be a lot of “arm and leg” movement, but that movement will not be pushing in the same direction—and the efforts of various members will often offset each other.

Each person has an inner sense of his or her potential and a desperate desire to fulfill it. I believe that it is the frustration of that desire that caused Thoreau to state, “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Great leaders find ways to allow people to unleash their potential, thereby fulfilling the deep desire of the members and creating a strong and motivated team.

An amazing story of personal discipline and persistence is found in the life of Heinrich Schliemann. As a young boy, he became enchanted by the Iliad, Homer’s account of the Trojan War. Despite the fact that others at the time believed it to be fiction, Schliemann dedicated his life to finding the lost city of Troy and proving it to be real. His plan included earning the fortune he would need for expeditions, learning languages so he could decipher texts, and becoming an expert in history, archeology, and other fields. In the end, he discovered Troy and other ancient cities, transforming both archeology and history. Not all plans will go so well as his, nor do they need to last a lifetime. But having a plan, and preparing and executing it with determination will help you make the most of your gifts and your opportunities. 

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