The 2018 Winter Olympic games have now come to a close. For some of you it means getting back to life without being glued to the television every day watching the hours of Olympic coverage.

For the athletes and coaches it means getting back to work to prepare for their next competition.

If you think about all the people in the world, very few will ever earn the opportunity to represent their country at the Olympics. Of the athletes who make it to the Olympics many will compete in one Olympic games in their life and very few will ever win a medal.

I saw a small amount of the Olympic coverage while I was on the road last week (we do not have TV at home). It struck me with the coverage and the highlights that I did see that we might have lost sight of the true meaning of the Olympics; to compete at the highest level and give your best in each event and on each day.

Getting to the Olympics is a result of thousands of hours of purposefully and deliberate practice by every athlete. It is a result of countless sacrifices by the athlete, their parents, their coaches and their family. The dream of competing in the Olympics can be shattered by a boycott, a bad day at the Olympic trials, or by a serious injury weeks or months before the games.

For many athletes the Olympic journey has meant struggling to secure funding or sponsors or working to support themselves while training before and after work. It is an honour to represent your country on the world stage, yet for most, they will not make the highlight reels or be interviewed after winning a Gold medal. Some will accomplish a personal best in their event and still never make it into the top ten on that day in their event.

Of course we should celebrate the medal wins, but more importantly we should celebrate the work, the commitment to the process and the journey. We should celebrate the spirit, the commitment to excellence, the effort and the competition. We should talk about winning a silver medal, not about losing the gold.

With the Olympics, as with life, learn to focus on the effort and the process. Those are what you control. You never control the outcome. Focusing on effort and process however, give you the greatest opportunity for a positive outcome.

What’s Important Now? Focus on what you control - effort, process and attitude. Celebrate the journey.