What Ambit Consultants Can Learn From the World’s Fastest Man

Here’s a lesson from the world’s fastest man who made his third Olympic appearance in London 2012. Let’s start this lesson by watching this video clip:

Mr. Bolt can run really fast – 100 meters in 9.58 seconds.  That’s pretty fast, but it takes more than sheer talent to get there, which is the focus of today’s post. Let me tell you the story of Mr. Bolt before the 2008 Olympics.

The Road to Glory is Paved with Defeats

In 2004, he made the Jamaican Olympic Team and went to Athens where he never made it past the first round of his only event – the 200 meter dash.

According to an article in Esquire Magazine, his coach says he was injured and had problems with scoliosis. Coach Glen Mills says he changed up his training in three ways:

1. He cut down on the high intensity workouts and focused on building strength and flexibility.
2. He focused on building his core muscles to make up for a weak and curved spine.
3. He honed his technique in the 200-meter race.

Not an Overnight Success

At first, the training schedule didn’t do magic. In fact, in the two years after Mills began working with Bolt, he never placed first in a race.

The Training Equation Pays Off

However, at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Holt became the fastest man who ever lived in 200,000 years. He can run nearly 28 miles per hour at his top speed.

Here’s another thing you should know about Mr. Bolt.

He doesn’t take his running “seriously enough” to most people. In the Esquire article, the writer recounts his dancing celebration after he won Olympic gold in 2008. The head of the Olympic committee said it was disrespectful and “showboating.”

Many others in the athletic world say he’s like Mozart – “prodigiously gifted…and something of a clown.”

Pocketing the Objections

Bolt defends his lighthearted take on the sport. He says he used to care about what others thought of him and then he had an epiphany that changed his game.

He says, “I figured out that as long as you’re not doing good, they’re going to criticize you, and if you’re doing good, they going to love you.”

When he let go of the perception others had of him, he says he started enjoying the sport. That’s when he became the fastest man in the world – ever.

So, what can Ambit Consultants learn from the lightning fast man?

1. The right training can help you overcome almost any barrier.
2. Working on core skills and technique will change your game in the long term.
3. You have to work hard and have faith in your efforts to become great.
4. Caring what others think of you will hold you back.
5. Success comes when you let go and have fun.

Tell us what you think. Can the lessons from the world’s fastest man help your business?