David Nyeste

Strategic Considerations To me it has always been of paramount importance to have a vision of my model identity. In order to develop towards that ideal my role models would help me strengthen that vision. One effective strategy to find fitting role models is to pick the right environment. Certain organizations will promote specific types of personalities over others. For example in the military there is a tendency to recruit engaging, clearly structured people who have a natural preference to take decisions and action in the face of danger, i.e. under pressure. Thus firm leadership is a skill that is highly valued in military organizations. Other organizations might promote creativity, diversity, individualism and so on. Ask yourself which values you regard as the most precious and then look out for organizations whose values might match best. How To Be A Role Model The good news: setting the bar for being a role model will entirely be up to you. It is your own mind first that you need...

Be Prepared To Pay The Price Excellence comes at a cost. In my years as a teenage swimmer I learned about the effects of deliberate practice and the possibilities to tap into my own potential to a depth that I would never have thought possible. Johnny Weismueller is remembered for two accomplishments: First for playing the legendary Tarzan figure on screen as an actor and second for being the first human to swim the 100m freestyle in less than 60 seconds. At the time the 60 seconds mark was an incredible feat to accomplish. These days anyone can break the minute mark. We know what it takes and we know how to train for it. Nevertheless, only few people actually break the minute mark. The reason is that only few people are willing to pay the price (approximately 2-4 years of deliberate swim training as a grown up). Let's face it: (Luckily) there is no shortcut to excellence - no cheating yourself to brilliance and mastery. You have to be prepared to pay a price in time, sweat and blo...