Like millions around the world, I have found myself huddled in front of my television over the past few days watching the lightening fast coverage of the London Olympics. The 30th run of the Olympiad is already packed with intense competition, realized defeat and examples of overcoming hardships. Whether you’re rooting for the Dutch, Croatia, Brazil or the good ole’ U.S. of A, you have more than enough countries to support.I am engrossed in the athletes’ personal stories the commentators share throughout the games. The amount of social and emotional tragedy some of these athletes have had to face in pursuit of Olympic gold always amazes me. Some have been separated from their families or have had to navigate through war-torn homelands. Others have had to endure physical pressures due to previous injuries that once threatened to end their careers. Whatever the journey, you can guarantee there’s been a significance price paid to compete.As I watched some of the highlights today, I began jotting down principals that seemed universal and consistent to most athletes mentioned in the games. Here are a few things that may empower you as well:It all starts with a reality check: There is a difference between a hobby and a passion. In the beginning, these athletes had long and hard conversations with family and loved ones. Before they started dreaming of competing at such a high level and investing large amounts of money, they had to be sure there was commitment. Many things seem like an awesome idea, but you have to establish your future level of engagement.Move from interest to discipline: Here is where there’s a huge divide; in our society, we see there are more than enough opportunities to let discipline slide unaccounted for. Infomercials promise rock hard abs with only a minimum investment of time or by popping a small pill. Other advertisements declare you can get rich by watching a video or attending a seminar. All of these options fail simply because life requires disciplined interaction. You either pay the price or you live with limitations.Sacrifices are the toll on the way to greatness: What will what you want cost you? Answer this simple question and you’ve discovered your “secret.” In reality, being successful really isn’t much of a secret. If you’re willing to walk away from what you have and toward what want to possess, you will have it. Many athletes train in seclusion for years to win a chance to compete. What are you doing?Keep your focus on the next round: I watched the post play interview with one of Team USA’s swimmers and was shocked by her statement. She had just won but was already thinking about her training regiment for the 2016 Olympics. She hadn’t even made it to the London airport in route home, and she was planning her next event. That’s dedication.I don’t know your favorite sport or Olympic event, but I am sure you’ve watched a few events lately. While enjoying all of the pageantry this international stage brings, make sure you don’t miss the deeper meaning. We are watching the end result of journeys that have cost some greatly. For some, their process prevented them from living a normal childhood. But the payoff is more than compensation. They stand with their goals accomplished and we celebrate. Remember, we too can accomplish great things in our lives.

One of my favorite quotes says, “Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and wishing your enemies die.” If this is true, and I believe it is, imagine the damage that is incurred when we refuse to forgive ourselves. Often it is ourselves that we hold to unattainable standards and scrutiny. We seem treat the worse people with better courtesy than we feel we deserve. In some effort to be pious or seem humble, we gladly fall to the back of the line and struggle to be content with life’s scraps. Where did we obtain such a concept? And more importantly; how in the world do we learn to rise above it?

The bible gives an outline for how to interact with others. It is recorded, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” We’ve emphasized and mastered to some degree the part about loving the neighbor. But where we lack is the freedom to love ourselves. The first step to loving ourselves is accepting that we are worthy of our own forgiveness. Unforgiveness in any form is deadly, but compound guilt, frustration and failure and you have a cocktail that’s sure to short circuit any success. Where many are missing the mark is in the area of how they interact with themselves.

Several years ago while taking a class onmanagement styles, a question came up that made a powerful impact on how I interacted with people around me. The question was this; Is management and leadership the same thing? On one hand, management is the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. While leadership is the action of leading people by precept, principle and example. Like me, you may have never thought of these two states separately, but as you look at the definitions, it is clear they are not the same.

I say it like this, management is getting people to do the right things, but leadership is helping the right people do the right things. The difference is found in the application and activation of people. In life, business and everything else, people must be part of the equation. If they are not, you won’t see sustained success. This difference came to light in a tragic manner for hundreds of passengers earlier in January.

Albert Einstein once wrote, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to knowand understand.” As I watch the incredible development of my little ones and reminisce about all the mischief I got into as a youngster, it causes me to wonder where our imaginations went. Somewhere between 4 and 14 we are talked out of a land filled with endless possibilities and talked into a land of restraint, compliance and normality. Not that being orderly is wrong, but a life sentenced to ‘ordinary’ can be mind numbing. Mankind was created for something much greater than carving out a meager existence.

What happened to the days before technology? The days when we could entertain ourselves by going outside with one of our mother’s towels wrapped around our necks and for hours we engaged in the battle of the Super Friends. Where a stick was a McArthur’s sword or a water pistol made of the Lone Ranger. We didn’t need a text, Facebook or a Twitter account because our day was filled with playing tag. We felt care free when we allowed our minds to run free with the moment. But something happened. Life became complicated. We matured and decided with the assistance of society that ‘playing around’ was simply kid’s stuff.

Several months ago Hollywood studios released a blockbuster film that is currently up for several awards called Contagion. With heavy hitters like Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne as the main cast, they attempt to follow a web of infected individuals as a pandemic erupts across the world. This incredibly strong strand of flu virus that seems to originate from an animal spreads like wild-fire from the shores of Hong Kong, San Francisco, Chicago and everywhere in between. Day of our lives we are only a few steps from a disease that can take us out. In recent reports on news outlets we have witnessed firsthand the dangers of bacteria and germs that find their way into our homes and on our foods. This got me thinking about another airborne disease that gets very little ‘press’; the germ of negativity! It’s a scary thought that every person we meet could be a carrier of the disease of negativity. And worse, these infected could pass it on to travelers, hospitals, schools, churches and cause a widespread panic. Every sneeze is causing suspicion as to whether or not you are the next victim.

Negativity is defined as: an unpleasantness, lacking positive or constructive features. This can potentially describe most of the people we communicate with on a daily basis, or sometimes ourselves. All you have to do is look at a local news show and realize the ratio of positive and negative reports are grossly disproportioned. While we have done all we can with hand sanitizer and flu shots, we have neglected to protect ourselves from the deadliest disease of all. There are no statistics to show the amount of dreams, visions and potential that has been destroyed by the illness of negativity. Just as with any disease, knowledge, prevention and a little precaution will go a long way to keep you symptom free.

We’ve all had moments in life where we are faced with a choice of doing something uncomfortable or remaining the same. In the world of psychology, it’s called ‘Fight or Flight’. It is the initial response a human has to a time of pressure. What I’ve found is it’s not in that moment you make the decision, but the times before which determine your true character. How we chose to perceive life dictates how we respond to challenges. Heroism is not about confidence as much as it is about courage. The difference is where confidence is situational; courage is a choice of a person’s mindset.

By nature, we are innovative beings. It is life’s barriers that later train us to give up our courage. Fear, in any form, will cripple opportunities to step up. Most of us have the wrong understanding of failure. It is not something to afraid of because it is through experimenting with limitations that we discover our true ability. As we grow and develop, we learn to discern between a ‘chance’ and a ‘risk’. A chance is an action taken without proper investigation or analysis. A risk is the action you take after you have done your homework and evaluated not only the ways you can win, but the ways you can lose. When you have examined the angles of a situation and see the potential for growth, you can take the risk with courage.

It’s that time of the year again! A feverish pace comes upon the sports world while all eyes turn towards colligate basketball in hopes of witnessing history. From Nebraska, to Gonzaga, Connecticut and Florida; everyone wants to know if they have their ‘brackets’ in order to track this year’s upset. You even see evidence of March Madness in stores and television commercials. We’ve all got the ‘fever’ and there is no relief in sight until the end of the month!

I found the term ‘On the bubble’ to be an interesting narrative mentioned by nearly all the analysts on ESPN. When I did a bit of research, I also found this to be an allegory of the potential we have inside. In fact, if we really look closely at the similarities, it will give new meaning to this whole crazy month of sports utopia.