March 1, 2010

Making the Most of Every Opportunity

Our goal at SeriousAboutFitness.com is to create a positive, inspiring atmosphere for women who want to get into the best shape of their lives. If you look through this site, as well as all the other ones associated with the SAF Network, you’ll find a wealth of material dedicated to promoting and celebrating a healthy, clean-living lifestyle.

But my job doesn’t stop there. What I also like to do is further inspire the women who are part of our SAF Elite team and help them to achieve goals so they can be even better role models for others. I try to mentor them by giving good, honest advice that can really help them in their quest for what they want to achieve. One of the main pieces of advice I give each one is to make the most of every opportunity that presents itself. By using a couple of examples, this article will explain why I feel this is so crucial.

Many of the people who read SeriousAboutFitness.com compete in physique events, whether it’s in our SAF competitions or others. Every person who enters a competition and stands onstage obviously has a chance of winning. But, to me, they shouldn’t look at winning as the only reason to be there, since obviously there’s only one winner in each competition. Instead, there’s more than can be gained. Often the biggest benefit from a competition is the learning experience it can provide that can better you for future pursuits. For example, when Amber Nagle competed at the Fall ’08 SAF Model Search, she didn’t even place. But she looked at that competition as learning opportunity, improved herself, and came back one year later and took home first place at the Fall ’09 SAF Model Search. That initial competition was an opportunity for her to compete but also to learn and get better.

I try to lead by example and look for ways to make the most of every opportunity that presents itself to me. For instance, the other day I had a coffee with Vanda Hadarean, who is one of Canada’s most celebrated female athletes: a silver medalist in the 1992 Olympics (gymnastics), 6-time Ms. Fitness Canada and 3-time Ms. Fitness World. We’re so very proud to have her as part of our SAF Elite, not only because of her accomplishments but also because she is an incredible athlete who can teach others – including me. Every time I meet with Vanda, I learn something that I can use to improve. One of the things I took home from this coffee break is how she is currently using visualization techniques to perfect every performance she makes. She was explaining this to me as she was describing a special event that is coming up for her. Basically, no matter if it’s to do a gymnastics or fitness routine, or if it’s to walk on the stage during a modeling competition, or if it’s simply to make a presentation on behalf of an organization, Vanda thoroughly prepares her performance in her head well beforehand – weeks, maybe months before. When it comes to the transition of that performance from her head to the physical world, it’s a snap for her – that’s how powerful visualization can be and why she’s used it since she was a child. The opportunity to have a coffee with Vanda provided me with a learning experience to better myself and others.

If you don’t take every opportunity and make the most of it, you’re shortchanging yourself. So, when presented with any opportunity, even if it’s just going for coffee, see if there’s a way to benefit from it. If you do that, I can guarantee that, in the future, you will end up much farther ahead.

. . . Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com