He pulled a hamstring during a career-defining moment.

She fell off a balance beam, even though she was favored to win the gold medal.

He got the flu the day before the biggest race of his life.

Like millions of people around the world, I’ve been consumed by the Olympics…but not for reasons you might think.

I mean, sure, I love singing the national anthem and pretending I’m wearing a gold medal like anyone else (you ain’t got to lie and pretend you don’t do the same!), but I’m engrossed with Olympian mindset.

Stick with me here.

I love to watch the way champions talk to themselves before the gun fires at the start of a sprint.

I’m enthralled when they set an unprecedented pace, or break a world record.

But—mostly—I watch, research, and study the Olympic heartbreaks.

Before you think I’m morbid, let me explain: The Olympians have a singular goal, to win gold.

But only ONE person is bestowed with that honor in each competition.

Only one.

We watch each competition with bated breath, knowing a piece of our national pride is on the line (whilst ignoring the fact that we haven’t watched a fencing, equestrian, or archery competition since the last Olympics), hoping we, too, can raise our arms in victory.

But what happens when the unexpected happens?

What happens when Simone Biles falls off the balance beam, when she hasn’t fallen during a competition in over a decade?

If you’re Simone, you get back on.

You finish what you started, even though you know you won’t earn a gold medal.

And that? THAT is what a champion mindset looks like.

Then I asked myself if I do the same.

When I know I won’t hit my goal or get what I wanted after working so hard, will I get back on the horse? Or balance beam? Or my laptop?

Things won’t go as planned.

Sometimes life can be wildly unfair.

We might hit our personal best while—at the same time—someone breaks the world record.

And yet.

Yet we choose to get back on.

Because—unlike the Olympics—business is an infinite game, filled with multiple winners.

We, the lucky ones, get the chance to win a self-defined gold medal.

Every day we compete against the version of who we were yesterday, aiming to be even better tomorrow.

Together, we are champions.

j*

P.S. Have you thought about what it looks like to build a champion mindset on your team? Currently, your team is mostly made up of two kinds of people: donkeys and unicorns. Lemme explain: Unicorns are high-achievers who can create and manage systems independently, while donkeys are reliable executors of the tasks within the systems (both are important to your organization). Tune in to today’s podcast >>RIGHT HERE<< for more on how to identify Olympic level players for business success.

P.S.S. Every day our lunch break looks the same: me, trying to convince my daughter to let me be her Olympic coach…Luna, telling me she’d rather have a cat to train. OKAY FINE LET’S HOPE CAT TRAINING IS AN OLYMPIC SPORT IN THE FUTURE BECAUSE I WILL NOT REST WITHOUT A GOLD MEDAL, KID.