Do You Walk the Talk?

World Champion Olympic and professional athletes walk the talk. They don't just talk one way and act another. They talk the talk and walk the walk of excellence, achievement and peak performance. They have congruence. Their behavior matches who they are as championship people. This congruency allows them to operate closer to their potential more of the time.

What can we learn from these superstars? We can learn and adopt the qualities of top-performing athletes by examining how they are in the competitive arena. These peak performers have these qualities:

1. They Walk the Talk. Performers who just talk a good game are a dime a dozen. Those who trash-talk are not able to let their performance do the talking. They need to cover up a weak game. Champions can be quietly dynamic, secure in the belief that they are true champions. They talk about what they do because they can live it.

2. The Ability to Make Comebacks. Champions make comebacks after every error they make. There has never been an athlete who played an error-free game. They make comebacks after a poor performance, after a slump, after an injury, after any setback. They will not be denied in their march to success.

3. The Ability to Control the Clock. Champion performers know how to control momentum. They know how to help themselves by controlling time during performances so they feel in control. They set and dictate the tempo of a contest.

4. Self-Reflective Time. Champions make time to review all their performances and training systems. They consider this time sacred because it is here that they make adjustments and practice continuous improvement. They need quiet time to learn more about themselves as people and how this impacts their performances.

5. The Drive to Improve. Champions are often not satisfied fully with most performances. Something could have been better or gone more smoothly. They accept the limitations of the day during a performance and get on with the job, but realize that to improve, they must maintain a critical eye toward flaws and imperfections. They do this without damaging their self-esteem and confidence.

6. They are Resistance-Oriented. Winners resist losing. They resist giving in to pain, fatigue, boredom, trouble, bothersome opponents, and all else that stands in their way of success. When trouble appears, they resist it. They never give in.

7. They Have Competitive Spirit. Champions view competition as challenging, exciting, a test, fun, and allow the spirit of the battle to raise their game to the next level. They approach competition with gusto, a positive outlook and see it as an adventure.

8. They Embrace Win-Win Teamwork. Champions know how to be great team players and how to make everyone involved be winners in business and life. In sport, they often even view opposing players as partners in co-creating the competition that will take both to higher levels of performance.

9. They Take Responsibility. Champions are independent-minded. They admit when something is their fault and resolve it. They don't blame others. They take credit for their success and praise others for theirs. They create their success teams, yet realize that the ultimate responsibility for their lives resides within them.

10. They Play With Integrity. Champions compete with honesty, fair-mindedness, and concern for their fellow competitors, team-mates, coaches and spectators. They stand for the highest ideals of sportsmanship and integrity at all times. They pride themselves on being good people as well as good athletes.

Sport is one of the last bastions of performance accountability and effort-to-outcome arenas left in the world. It is a put-up-or-shut-up environment. Either you can do it, or you can't. Just yapping about it isn't enough. You have to prove you can do it. You have to walk the talk.

We can use our top athletes as models for how we'd like to be in our lives and careers. Take the very best qualities from the best athletes and you will become a champion in your arena also.