Why We Do What We Do

I'm always curious about what drives people? Especially when we're talking about 'the best of the best' or impressive performances. Take professional athletes for example, they typically don't need the money and have already won at the highest level.

Why do they continue to train, prepare and compete? I mean, once you have enough money an extra cheque isn't really going to do much to inspire. And if you've won at the highest level of your game then the challenge becomes to see how many times can you repeat this success? Can you exit your sport as one of the best ever? What kind of legacy do you leave behind?

Maybe these are some of the things that drive athletes to continue when the cheques and trophies have already been collected in abundance. Now maybe it becomes a personal challenge to see how many times they can reach the top?

[caption id="attachment_4892" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Don't talk to me about problems. 11 rings and only 10 fingers.

Because, let's face it, the life of a professional athlete is a very small window. The NFL is also known as the 'Not For Long' league. I remember reading the average career of a professional football player is less than 3 years.

Think about that for a moment and imagine if the average of your career was less than 3 years. Do you think you might bring your best everyday? Do you think you might feel some pressure to extend this if you could? Maybe the realization that his opportunity is so short lived explains why NFL players will do whatever it takes to stay in the game.

The other thing that might drive athletes is something that drives others who are successful as well. This could include entertainers, artists, business people and more.

So what is this common thread that might account for the drive and push of successful people? Well it might come down to the fact that within each of us there is a desire to fully tap into our potential.

We feel our best when we have tested ourselves, overcome an obstacle and succeeded.

I remember reading that this concept is analogous to riding a unicycle. When we are in motion it is much easier to ride the unicycle. It is the motion that keeps us in balance. When we take no pedal strokes we are constantly off-balance and feel as though we are going to fall.

[caption id="attachment_4891" align="aligncenter" width="200"] When we look down and don't pedal we are off balance and falling.

We could probably extend this analogy further and say that not only are we more in balance when we pedal, we also make more forward progress when we pedal more rather than less. When we pedal more we are also looking more ahead down the road than if we were simply trying to maintain position and not move forward.

It kind of makes sense though, doesn't it? When we look straight down we are more likely to get surprised by upcoming obstacles in our path than if we look out on the horizon. Anyone who skis, snowboards, mountain or dirt bikes will know this to be true.

And once we have forward momentum and we can see obstacle coming up with more warning we can relax a little bit more. We won't be as stressed from feeling as though we're out of balance, about to fall over, not making forward progress and constantly surprised by obstacles in our paths.

Now this is all fine and dandy and may explain what drives a professional athlete? But what about a strength coach or fitness trainer?

In other words, what drives the team at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc.?

More simply, why do we do what we do?

Well the answer to this is quite simple.

We believe that fitness is a great tool to help people become healthier. And when people are healthier they tend to look and feel better. People that look and feel better tend to be happier people. Happier people make for better communities. And we want Kelowna to be the best community possible.

We want to live in great neighbourhoods. We want to be a part of and support great sports teams. We want our kids to attend great schools. And we want to do business with great people right here as well.

[caption id="attachment_4893" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Our why is about making Kelowna the best community possible.

The 'how' and 'what' of what we do are of secondary importance when you consider the why.

And we believe our why is a goal that is shared by everyone we come in contact with every single day.

As a colleague down South likes to say 'you are only one workout away from a great day'. And when we get to witness the high 5s, laughs and smiles that finish every workout I know we are achieving our goal.

And our 'why' is working.