Today, millions of eyes around the globe will be turning their attention to the amazing feats of athletic skill and mastery at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  Officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be celebrated in Beijing, People’s Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008.  Ten thousand, five hundred athletes are expected to compete in 302 events in 28 sports.  Those are some great stats! 

I know I’ll be glued to the Ceremonies.  I love watching them.  They always inspire me to become more active and to work at perfecting my athletic skills.  I’ll push myself harder in my training over the next few weeks – inspired by the stories and videos of athletes at their best.  But it doesn’t stop there.  I always find business inspiration from the Olympic Games.  I’m sure that the Beijing Olympics will be no different.  Already, we’ve seen a real online business example emerge from the Games, with the Beijing Olympics Internet Ticket Fraud Scheme.  But there are many more positive examples that we can inherit from the Spirit of the Olympic Games.

Here are my top seven lessons that I’ve gleaned from the Olympics over the years:

1. Set A Really Big Business Challenge: Every business owner has business goals. They routinely set sales goals and work towards achieving them. Not many set a really big challenge. One that is so far from where they are in their business that they will have to push themselves to reach it. It could be financial. It could be creating a new product in 30 days. It could be taking four months off. Whatever it is, you’ll know when you’ve created it because it will inspire you and get the creative juices flowing.

2. Create A Step-by-Step Plan: Your Big Challenge runs the risk of becoming a pipe dream or a wish if you don’t do your research and create a plan. Athletes don’t get to the Olympics on dreams alone. They all follow a step-by-step plan that will make their dream come true. You need to do the same for your Big Challenge.

3. Tell yourself that quitting is not an option: Mentally close the door to quitting. Put yourself in a position where you have no choice but to succeed and achieve your Big Challenge. It may take months or years of struggle before you can declare success but commit now by declaring that quitting is not an option. How many Olympic Athletes have sustained injuries that threatened their careers and rose above the limitations, didn’t quit and continued to win medals? Close the door to quitting and become an unstoppable force. Stay focused on actions and ward off any thoughts of self-pity.

4. Hang in there and keep fighting: If you don’t quit, success is just a matter of time. Too many online business owners quit at the first sign of failure. If the going gets tough, don’t pack it in. Get angry, get fired up, get inspired to find out why it failed and how you can avoid repeating the failure. Hang in there!

5. Surround yourself with successful people: If you hang around with people who have a more positive attitude than you, you will naturally pick up their habits in behavior and thinking. If you hang out with people who run the type of business you want to run (if even you’re just reading their newsletters or reading their biographies) you’ll be inspired to create the same success for yourself. Model the masters in your field. And remember, the opposite is also true, so don’t spend too much time with folks who are constantly negative.

6. Realize that success doesn’t come easy: There are no overnight sensations. It takes a lot of work and energy for an athlete to reach the Olympics. A lot of blood, sweat and tears. Realize this: first, you dream. Then you struggle. Finally, you emerge victorious. That’s true for Olympic Athletes, that’s true for online business owners, that’s true for anyone who has a big dream or goal in life.

7. Stay focused: When Plan A doesn’t seem to be working, it’s easy to want to start a second, parallel plan. Or worse, to give up all together. Resist that urge. Giving up is not an option. We’ve already established that. Running a parallel plan is also not an option. It takes too much time and energy and attention – especially if you’re an online business owner. I once heard a story about Mike Filsaime where he had a gazillion different projects and interests on the go. Know what happened? He spun his wheels alot. He did a lot of things, but was master of none. Large scale success was elusive until he realized the main goal of his business is to secure a name. Same thing applies to becoming a virtuoso guitarist or musician. Some of the best guitarists I know (and I know a lot of them) don’t play overly complicated music – they do something simple, and do it exceptionally well. If you focus on too many things or run too many parallel plans, you become a jack of all trades and master of none.

Every two years, we see living proof that if you are willing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes, success is just a matter of time. So be the master of your own Business Olympics and perservere. The gold medal awaits you at the finish line.