Is it Olympic Spirit or Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior to Do the Thing You Love?

When I was in ninth grade, one of our classmates was missing. It was a girl who lived on the other side of town so I didn’t know her well. Really, I didn’t know her at all, as evidenced by the fact that I had no idea she was into gymnastics.

The reason she didn’t join us in seventh grade is because she moved to Texas to live with her coach to prepare for the Olympic trials coming the next year. She was that good of a gymnast.

This was 1978, with the various competitions and trials starting in 1979 for the 1980 Olympics. Alas, she didn’t make the team, being one of the last gymnasts cut from the team. I couldn’t imagine the disappointment at the time—I had never tried to do anything as difficult as make the Olympics.

I kind of have an idea now, forty-some years later, having missed out on a few things.

She returned to our school and, in our senior year, promptly won the state championships in Beam, finishing second or third in the other exercises. It was the first and only time our little high school won a gymnastics title.

Of course, everyone on that Olympic gymnastics team was disappointed as America boycotted the Moscow Olympics. It’s a brutal reminder that you only control your own actions. A certain amount of success in life is outside your control.

Which is why you should make sure you spend plenty of time doing what you love.

Most Olympians live a life of dedication to something they love. Even if they’re chasing the excitement of competition, or the dopamine rush of attention in the arena, they build their life around that thing they love.

You can do that too, albeit on a smaller scale, by doing something creative you love. Crochet, quilting, or comedy. The what doesn’t matter as much as the fact that you enjoy doing it enough to want to do it well.

Passing fancies, such as trying out a hobby for a week or so, won’t satisfy your human urge to create. That said, you should try things out, see what you love, learn to avoid what you hate.

When you find that thing you love to do, lean into it.

When I watch the Olympics, I can’t help but notice that for every medalist, there’s two or three competitors who missed out on the top spot. And for every one of those competitors, there may be hundreds of hopefuls in their home country who put in a lifetime of work and dedication.

Many of them are driven by obsessed parents, or an insatiable desire for “winning;” the vast majority, however, pursue their sport because they love it so much they want to be the best at it. Nothing else in life has tempted them away from that sport.

Whatever your interest in creativity, you owe it to yourself to find a way to include it in your daily life.

There is a maxim that goes: “The way you live each day is the way you live your life.” If you want to write, sculpt, or paint landscapes in life, you need to include it in your daily routine. Maybe you can’t get to it every day, but try. Or at least get really good at blocking off certain days to get that done.

I wrote two articles this past week that address the issue, and I hope they help you:

Start with Getting Things Done; Finish with Master Your Workday

The Dirty Secret of Focus and Getting Stuff Done