The Winter Olympics have began. Will success only be attributed to those athletes that stand on the podium to receive Gold, Silver or Bronze medals? Watching the preparation, hype & excitement of the Games, got me thinking about what it takes to achieve Gold, that feeling of glory & reward for the potential 4 years or more of hard slog & commitment that preceded that moment. What about the athletes that go home with no medal, does it mean they trained, sacrificed or worked any less?

It doesn’t matter who you are — a business person, teacher, parent or uni student, defining goals & working to achieve them won’t always result in a Gold medal. So what makes a person endure the pain of getting up early every morning (light or dark, rain, hail or shine), the parties missed, the lack of free time, the sweat & tears, the discipline & focus to follow a plan?

It’s easy to resonate with Mark Bouris’s (Executive Chairman of Yellow Brick Road Wealth Management) argument that success is the journey, success is the grind. Success is working at your purpose. People who are successful in business, have a good career, or have felt the reward of achievement — work hard, they don’t give up & they know their purpose. They know exactly why they are doing what they are doing. Without a sense of purpose the hard work & commitment is hard to sustain.

Have you defined your purpose? Do you know what you are passionate about? Are you living & working towards your Gold medal every day? Get in the game maybe even ‘do a Bradbury’!