152. Nobody Cares
It’s Olympics time again. I love the Olympics.
It’s the best of the best all in one place, going head to head in competition. Every day is like game 7 of the championship finals.
Sports just doesn’t get better than the Olympics.
Of course, there are the human interest stories that NBC pumps out, describing all the obstacles athletes overcame in order to be on that Olympic stage. Some people don’t like those stories. Not me. I love ‘em. I’m always drawn to a good underdog anecdote.
Beyond the obstacles they’ve overcome, we assume that all of the athletes are in peak performance on race day. We assume that there are no more issues happening in their lives beyond their tunnel-vision focus on competition.
None of them are talking about their personal or emotional strain. Maybe they had an argument with their husband or wife that morning. Perhaps their pet recently died. Life is full of surprises at the most inopportune times.
We also don’t hear about their physical pains. The toe they stubbed by accident that morning. Their feelings of sickness or fatigue.
We hear about none of it.
Do you know why?
Because nobody cares.
There is no possible way that every Olympian is feeling perfect on race day. They are great athletes, yes. But despite their levels of athleticism, they are still humans living lives full of complicated relationships and complex emotions.
But this is the Olympics. So nobody cares.
I don’t mean that in a bad or uncaring way. I mean that in a very real way.
The Olympic athletes have only one job: to compete and win. That is their sole purpose during the Olympic Games and nobody wants to hear excuses of why they aren’t able to perform that one single job.
Excuses don’t matter when it comes to achieving a goal. In the words of the great seer, Yoda:
You either do or don’t, there is no try
You don’t have to be a world-class athlete to have a clear goal.
I cringe when an employee misses a deadline and proceeds to lay out all of their excuses as to why they didn’t do what they were supposed to.
Nobody cares.
If you weren’t going to achieve the goal, ask for help. If you don’t give advance notice, then get the job done.
Enough with the excuses.
Nobody cares.
*As a side note, I fully support Simone Biles and others who prioritize their personal wellness over medals.
Quote
“Nobody cares about your excuses. Nobody pities you for procrastinating. Nobody is going to coddle you because you are lazy. It’s your ass. You move it."
- Tim Ferris
Tidbits
Monkey Biz. There were 100 monkeys. Not anymore. (find the monkey)
Cukes. Did you know cats were scared of cucumbers? (s’true)
Every Second. This is cool. (seconds count)
Another Useless Website. The world’s dumbest game (why?)