TRAINING LIKE AN OLYMPIAN!
I love the Olympics! There are so many inspirational human beings involved in sports at this level –and so many parallels for anyone reaching for their “gold.” Whether it’s financial freedom, athletic medals, or academic achievement, “success doesn’t come from luck alone.” I don’t know where this quote originated, but I’m sure many other people have used it, long before me!
In almost every sport, there are stories of overcoming adversity and obstacles of all shapes and sizes. No excuses! For these truly committed athletes, they persevere and find a way to pursue their passions, and hopefully their gold medal. Some make it look easy, like Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec in the air pistol mixed team. Some have mixed results, like Andre De Grasse, who didn’t qualify in the men’s 200m final, related to an injury; however, somehow he dug deep to help the men’s 4 X 100m relay team reach gold! This sounds so much like real estate: one house performs beautifully, the other house gets clobbered by hail (just for a recent Calgary example).
Some of the Olympic stories are about scandal, cheating and even playing dirty. Sounds like the real estate investing world in Canada these days too, doesn’t it? And yet, justice is possible. Did you see the story about the Canadian High Jumper, Derek Drouin, who just received his silver medal for the 2012 London Olympics?
There are so many paths to success, elite fitness, and even medals. For example, the classic Canadian stories of Canoeing medals. In another corner, there are also the surprise stories like Canada’s beach volleyball silver medal—I wonder what the Vegas odds might have been for that one?
As Calgary and Canadian rental housing providers, sometimes it can feel like there’s one roadblock after another: high interest rates (relatively), a new legal protest against Calgary’s re-zoning, the Green Line finally moving forward-BUT only half-way, and even corrupt colleagues and/or associates who are making some mistakes as they learn and grow.
This week we are rejuvenated and reminded that our goals aren’t supposed to be easy. And while there may be a lucky break or two along the way, nothing replaces hard work and determination. We had two permits move to their next stages this week—feels like we made it to the semi-finals on those projects! It looked like we were facing a multiple week delay on some stairs—but, found an alternative near Red Deer—obstacle cleared in a matter of days! Okay, so we’re not Olympians, but the progress is real!!
Between new home building and real estate investing, sometimes we all lose sight of the bigger perspective. Whatever journey, whatever gold medal, it’s not supposed to be easy. If it was, our financial freedom or other victories simply wouldn’t be so valuable. Cheers to everyone’s mental, physical and financial training program and goals!!
