In Pursuit of Excellence

Let me tell you something-- I’ve never gotten last place before. Or at least not in anything that mattered enough for me to care. I would joke about getting last place, just like any average athlete would do. “Well as long as I don’t get last... hahah” And my friends would laugh with me.  

That is, I had never gotten last until last Wednesday at Cross-country Skiing Nationals. When, here it goes: I got last. Yep, that’s right, bottom of the list, down by the sponsor’s logos and the date in which the results were printed. D.F.L. 

It’s a bad feeling. Even if you swear you don’t care about the results, you promise you are just racing for fun, it hurts. I fell and skidded on my behind on probably the worst possible place to fall in a 3 minute, 1 kilometer race. Nobody else fell. My fault, but even the best fall down sometimes, right? Wrong. I was devastated. How could I have been so unfocussed, so clumsy? Especially after all of the hours and hours of work I have put into ski racing? I needed some motivation, and fast.  

That night my mom handed me the book In the Pursuit of Excellence by Terry Orlick as an early birthday present, (my birthday was the next day). She said that this was the book that the U.S ski team coach had recommended his athletes to read. Reluctantly, I opened it and read the first few pages. 

It immediately dove into topics like motivation and focus, subjects that I was lacking at the time, and quite honestly I didn’t want to hear about amazing people who did amazing things because of their amazing dedication and focus. I wanted to hear about another person who skidded on their behind in a big race, got last, but then came back to be amazing. But slowly, once the “feel bad for myself” phase had worn off a little, the book began to grow on me. 

Terry Orlick is a world renowned sports psychologist who used to be a professional gymnast. His book In Pursuit of Excellence is the perfect guide for athletes who have a big goal in mind, in fact it’s good for anyone who has any goal in mind. First it talks about the wheel of excellence. This wheel contains seven sections and when all the parts are working and in harmony, you will be able to excel at anything, Orlick believes. The wheel looks something like this: circled around the outside edge lies the components: positive images, mental readiness, distraction control, and ongoing learning. Around the center of the wheel lies commitment, focussed connection, and finally, confidence. Throughout the book, Orlick goes into very fine detail on all of these subjects. He talks about everything from goal setting to the zen zone, and even has a chapter on getting through and learning from set backs, which I eagerly flipped to when I first got the book.  

This book is wonderful. I don’t know about all athletes, but I wonder all of the time  what it really takes to make it to the Olympics; what it really takes to be considered great. Now I know that it takes a whole lot more than an abundance of physical training, it takes an enormous amount of mental training. You need focus, intense focus. So focussed that you’re not even focussing anymore, you’re just in the zone. It also takes many goals, big and small. As Terry says, “Let’s say that you want to become the best performer you can be, or that you want to write a book. Great! What are you going to do about it in the next five minutes, hour, day, week, month, year?” (Orlick, 60) Big goals keep you on track, but small goals actually get you there. Orlick suggests that when you  wake up in the morning, you should write a list of all of the things you want to accomplish that day. This way, your goals are more concrete and you will be more motivated to get them done.  

Orlick writes this book in a suggestive, but not pushy manner. He proposes that anyone can accomplish or make significant progress towards their individual goals. He never says that you definitely can or can’t accomplish something, he lets you decide. He asks many questions regarding the reader’s dedication, focus, and goals. This makes reading the book more personal and really makes you think about how much you want to achieve your goal and if you are willing to give it your best. He writes simply and to the point. There is no beating around the bush, Orlick clearly states what it takes mentally to achieve your dreams, and the rest is up to you. 

I would recommend this book to anyone, because we all have things that we want to accomplish. When I was down in the dumps, this book helped me climb back up and realize that one bad race isn’t the end of the world. My skiing life isn’t over, the only thing that’s over is that bad race. It’s time to move on, set more goals, and go after them. I can do it, and so can you. This book is a first good step toward achieving anything. 

Rating Scale:

:,( Can’t finish the book no matter how hard I try

:( Not likin’ it. Barely finish it, but I don’t remember much

:/ It’s okay. I’ll read it if I have nothing better to do

:) Good! I would recommend it to others looking for a good book

:,D Amazing! Inspires me to be a better person

In Pursuit of Excellence gets a :,D