The 2022 Winter Olympics have come to a close.  There are many aspects of the Olympics that I enjoy and one of those is the athlete’s journey to compete in the Olympics.  I like to reflect on their story and how it can parallel our journey through life as we work to achieve our goals.  There are several great stories from the Olympics, and one of my favorites this year is of speed skater, Erin Jackson, the gold medal winner in the 500-meter speed skating race.

Erin, age 29, was the #1 ranked speed skater in the world for her event leading up to the Olympics.   What fascinates me with Erin’s story, is that she started to learn to speed skate just under 5 years ago!  She was already an accomplished inline roller-skater and she wanted to compete in the Olympics, but inline skating is not an Olympic sport.  Erin decided to transition to skate on ice, but the transition to race on ice requires a different set of skills and technique.  She admitted that the transition was tougher than she expected.  Her gold medal is a testament to her athleticism, determination, and perseverance to achieve her goal in such a short timeframe.  However, her achievement did not come without help.  Erin uncharacteristically stumbled in the Olympic qualifiers, and she failed to qualify for the Olympics despite being ranked #1 in the world.  But then, my favorite part of her story, her teammate and long-time friend Brittany Bowe gave up her spot in the 500-meter event so Erin could compete at the Olympics, and the rest is history.

Recently, we have had many conversations with clients about their personal goals.  You might expect the focus of the goals to be financial, but at the root they generally are not.  For most of our clients, their goals represent a desire to fulfill one or more of their highest values in life.  Take a moment to consider your current desires, things you are working toward, and evaluate how much they align with your values.  We are here to be a sounding board for you and welcome the opportunity to listen to you and understand your values and goals.  It is a privilege to be able to serve you and be a resource to you in achieving things that are important to you.

Have you learned any lessons from observing or participating in sports that you apply to achieving your goals?