My apologies for missing our visit together last week. I was definitely in the throes of planning and organizing the rest of the month of February for my “Comeback Year.” I’m learning how important it is to get laser-focused when it comes to pursuing goals.
And, I must say that I haven’t been as on-target with my daily tasks as I orginally intended for this week. Not because I don’t know what tasks I have before me, but mainly because I’ve been in awe of the athletes in the Winter Olympics. Okay, so I’m blaming it on the Olympics. Hee. Hee.
All my planning hasn’t been lost on the time given to watching the Olympics, though.
I’ve listened to these athletes’ stories and witnessed their performances in the games. And, I’ve taken some teachable moments and lessons learned from the 2026 Winter Olympics — takeaways that I’ll use as I work toward the goals associated with my five major areas of business focus.
To recap, the five areas of focus for my Degrees of Maternity business goals are as follows:
- The LRCU Membership (a youth leadership community that I provide for some 3rd-8th graders I’m mentoring)
- Reading Tutoring Services (through Degrees of Maternity and for the tutoring company I returned to this month)
- Grant Writing Services (for the K-12 academy I also do reading tutoring for)
- Content Creation (for the Degrees of Maternity blog site, L.I.T. News Newsletter, and LRCU Newsletter)
- The Degrees of Maternity Summer Reading Program (starting in June 2026)
Now, for the takeaways . . .
- Failing to achieve desired outcomes can teach even more than achieving a successful result.
- Taking care of yourself (holistically) – physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and in every other way — can never be the afterthought. It must be practiced every day to weather the unpredictable storms life brings your way.
- There are lessons to be learned even in failing to accomplish what you’ve set out to do.
- We are NOT robots; we’re human beings!
- There’s not a lot we can control in the big scheme of things; but the one thing we can control is how we respond to what life brings our way.
- Physical and mental preparation is key to achieving successful goal outcomes.
- When you fall off course, get back up, get back on course, and keep it movin’ toward your goal destination. (You can’t dwell on the fact that you fell off. The important thing to note is that you didn’t give up. You pushed through and finished out the course. Your “finish” is what speaks volumes.)
- Who you are is not defined by one moment in time. It’s the cumulation of what you do and who you are in life and how you choose to move going forward.
- Having great people support is necessary when you’re working to achieve great things.
- Things happen for a reason. Instead of dwelling on the negative aspects of the situation, what positive takeaways can you identify from the situation?
Well, I’m sure I’ll be elaborating on a few of the 10 lessons learned from the Olympics in future blog posts, as I continue on my own goal pursuits. I may not be an athlete, but I am a human being who can take a page from the book of an Olympic Hopeful and apply that type of recipe for success through . . .
having a hard work ethic, discipline, great determination, laser-focused preparation and skills development in the areas that matter the most, self-care of the whole person, a supportive team of people in my corner, a right attitude and stellar character through the goal-achievement process, a willingness to learn from any situation, and an understanding that I can only control what I can control (so do the best with the hand that’s been dealt to me).
More to come on lessons learned . . .
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