The Nevada Sagebrush - » Going above and beyond sets the strong apart

Going above and beyond sets the strong apart

By Rost Olsen
Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008 @ 12:16 am

Rost Olsen

Challenges are an unavoidable and fundamental component to every aspect of life. They require effort and perseverance. Sometimes, we feel challenges become, well, too challenging. But at these moments, we make a decision, whether we realize it or not.

We can sit back with minimal effort, go through the motions, wait for it to pass and then halfheartedly say that we gave it a shot. We can simply take the lashings of the whip and then find a compromised joy in the fact that we lived through it.

Or we can rise up, actively engage in the challenge and not be content until it is overcome. As we do this, we learn and develop new strengths that will help us beat other challenges when they come, as well as give us something to take pride in. Our finest moments can come in the face of a challenge. But it is up to us to make that decision.

For example, is your boss looking for someone to fill a promotion that you know that you’re qualified to have? You essentially have two paths you could follow.

One, you could be apathetic about it and sit back. If your co-workers are going through the same motions as well, you actually have just as much of a chance as they do of getting that promotion.

However, if you’re following the average crowd, what sets you apart from them?

Which leads to the next option: You can go all out and put forth your best effort. Distinguish yourself from your average co-worker. Even if you are the “most qualified” for the position, don’t be satisfied with just that. Come to work everyday with a purpose. That way when the time comes to fill the position you will leave no doubt in your employer’s mind.

During my sophomore year at Sparks High School, I was playing on a varsity football team with 33 players. We were far from the most talented bunch. The varsity team hadn’t won a game in close to two years, and we were playing our first game against a talented team from Lowry High School in Winnemucca.

We were down 13-7 in the closing minutes of the game, facing a short fourth down. On that play, we handed the ball to our stud running back. He took a major hit in the backfield and it looked like the game was about to be over. The ball would’ve gone back to Lowry and all they would’ve had to do is run the clock out.

But somehow he stayed on his feet, refused to go down and took a few defenders with him across the first-down line. Our team was fired-up, the drive stayed alive and we ended up scoring the game-winning touchdown a few plays later with three seconds left for a spectacular 14-13 victory.

That warrior knew he was getting the ball that play. He finished the game with 46 carries, an insane amount for a running back at any level. He had taken hard shots throughout, he was tired and he could’ve just shut it down when he took that big hit. He had already put on a great individual performance.

But he refused to be satisfied with merely a good individual performance and instead wouldn’t stop until he got that first down. And because of that extra effort, an “almost” became a victory.

We all get tired and worn down sometimes. That’s life. But it’s what we do when we’re down that makes the difference between success and failure.

Keep going and get your victory!

Rost Olsen is a certified personal trainer and a columnist for The Nevada Sagebrush. He can be reached at editor@sagebrush.com.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 12:16 am and is filed under Perspectives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Going above and beyond sets the strong apart

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