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Gold, Goals, and Grinding.

  • Writer: Keith Soriano, PGA
    Keith Soriano, PGA
  • Sep 3, 2018
  • 3 min read

46 years ago today, American swimmer Mark Spitz became the 1st competitor to win 7 gold medals at a single Olympic Games (setting 7 world records in the process!). While the world focused on the end results of those Olympic Games, those results were produced by Mark’s dedication to the hard, less than glamourous, unseen, and unnoticed work preparing for his moment to shine.  It is that space…the work that nobody sees that is the subject of today’s email.


How much time did Mark have to spend in the pool to prepare himself for those 7 races in 1972? According to him, he began swimming in a local swim club in 1956 at age 6 and swam competitively for the next 16 years (props to his parents, that is a lot of swim meets to attend!).  All of those cumulative hours created the conditions that allowed for history to be made in Munich. 


 “If you are looking for a single, mind-blowing tactic you’ve been missing your whole life that will instantly make learning or practicing way easier, you’ll never find it. You’ll waste hour after hour searching. Here is the best thing you can possibly do to get better at something. Put in the damn time.”-Mark Spitz


Let’s be perfectly clear, I am not saying that you need to work even more hours at your job in order to be successful; working more and being busy isn’t the same as being productive.  I am saying that creating the life and career that you desire is the result of hard work, dedication, and careful planning.


The additional resources below provide more insight into this theme. I hope you find them educational and inspire you to take charge of your career by better using “the time that no one sees”. 


Finally, if you missed the announcement 2 weeks ago, I have some GREAT news. The new Rules & Regulations for the PGA MSR requirements have been released, and you can now earn 2 MSR’s in the Required category per fiscal year for meeting with me to discuss your career. For those of you that I’ve met with since the end of the last cycle, I’ll be submitting your MSR’s in the next couple of weeks.

Please feel free share this email via social media or forward the email to anyone you feel that would benefit from the information.


ADDITIONAL RESOURCES


“But being truly busy doesn’t have to guarantee you’ve been productive”

From Medium


“Busy is not your job. Busy doesn’t get you what you seek. Busy isn’t the point. Value creation is.”


“It’s the small things, behind the scenes that no one sees, that leads to the BIG things that everyone wants.”


“Everywhere you turn in our society there are quick fixes. If you don’t want to work hard anymore it seems like you don’t have to.”

Let’s get together soon and plan the hard work that no one else will see.


Sincerely,

-ks


This blog was part of a series of articles co-written with Mike Mueller, PGA, Todd Smith, PGA, & Jason Boaz, PGA.

 
 
 

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The name of this blog, Sole in the Soil, carries layers of meaning. Sole plays on soul, a reflection of faith, and the saving grace of Jesus Christ who redeems our souls. It is a nod to my affinity for sneakers, too, symbols of creativity and personality. Soil speaks to the fairways where golf is lived and felt, and to the richer soil of life itself, where faith is planted, family grows, and legacy takes root.

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