As the Olympic year gets under way, we can be inspired by the persistence, determination and focus of the world class athletes who will be converging on London during the summer.

Every day we encounter hurdles to be jumped, marathons and sprints to be run, and have to manage various feats of acrobatics to balancing impossible workloads and finances!

So in the spirit of the 2012 games, we could combine the symbolism of the Olympic flag with the Six Thinking Hats approach by Dr Edward deBono, and think about the goal you are trying to achieve in your business from the following different colour perspectives…

o   White background – What is the goal in plain, simple & measurable terms?  – what are the facts, what problem are you trying to solve and for whom, or what opportunity are you  aiming to create or exploit? Who do you need on board to achieve this goal?

o   Yellow ring – what are the potential benefits of achieving this goal to you and your colleagues or clients? How might this differentiate you from the competition…

o   Red ring – what emotions or responses does this provoke in you or others around you? Are you fearful of what it might involve, is there likely to be resistance or anger? How will you deal with these barriers?

o   Black ring – what might go wrong with this, what risks does it entail – how will you address them, what is your exit strategy?

o   Green ring – what innovative ways can you think of to achieve this goal or what other ideas does it give you e.g. partnering with another company, use of new technology such as smartphones

o   Blue Ring – now that you have all these ideas for how to approach the goal, what steps do you need to take, how will you know if you’re on the right track, what is your action plan for getting there…

And once you’ve done what you set out to do… celebrate the outcome – just as athletes will celebrate their success in winning. Equally, if they don’t do as well as they expected, they will acknowledge that they have learned something from doing it. Likewise we can assess what has worked well for us, and what things can we learn from, to avoid making the same mistakes again. As Michael Jordan put it, “I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”

The key thing for us is that we stay focused on the outcome, but are able to enjoy the games too!

With best wishes for Christmas and wishing you success in reaching your “Personal Best” in 2012.

"Reach your Personal Best in 2012" - six week personal development evening programme starts 18 Jan 2012.

Follow this link to find out more information about the event in our Calender, simply click on the 18th in the calender for more information