Quantity with Quality
The Success Rollercoaster
What are you doing to capitalize on your highs?
This is my next story in a series of articles responding to Dr Mehmet Yildiz’s challenge to produce a short quality article with three take home points each day for thirty days.
I have chosen to use Wikipedia’s main page as inspiration, choosing one topic from their “Did You Know” section as topical encouragement.
Samantha Lowe is an English athlete who won a gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester in women’s judo.
In the qualifying event prior to the Commonwealth Games, fellow English athlete and opponent Kate Howey broke her wrist and was unable to complete the match. Both athletes felt that they were winning the match at the time of the injury stop.
Lowe was chosen to represent England in the Commonwealth Games, but Howey filed an appeal claiming that she was winning the qualifying event at the time of injury. The appeal was accepted, and Howey became the selection to represent England.
Lowe counter-appealed, arguing on the strength of her form and that accomplishments throughout the season carried more merit than the purported winner of a single disputed match.
Lowe secured the spot and went on to win the event in her weight class, besting one opponent in an early round in only 10 seconds.
What We Can Learn from Samantha Lowe
Samantha is obviously a fighter both on and off the judo mat. She didn’t accept the Sport Dispute Panel’s ruling; but rather than leaning on the disputed match’s significance, she presented additional compelling evidence that sustained her appeal and allowed her to compete in the games.
Samantha didn’t let opportunity go to waste and won her weight class, taking home a gold medal for England.
Take home points:
- It’s not over until it is over. This story presents compelling evidence to continue to fight to the last round (figuratively and literally).
- The little things matter. While most martial arts tournaments ride on winning a penultimate match, in Samantha’s case the strength of her performance all year provided the boost to get her into the Commonwealth Games.
- Make the most of your opportunities. Obviously, Samantha rose to the occasion when it truly mattered.
We aren’t all competitive athletes, and while sports provide a good metaphor for everyday life it can sometimes be difficult to recognize how important little things are overall. Final judo matches that determine world rankings are easy to identify as something to put your full effort into, but some of our routine activities can carry similar importance.
Are there things that you bailed on or let slide, that you could take back up with renewed energy? Is there a story you could write for Medium or a client that you could pitch even though others have turned you down?
Are you putting your best effort into your everyday tasks? What if it turns out later that they do matter significantly and will contribute to some personal success?
When you get a big break, are you leveraging it to the fullest?
I think Samantha Lowe’s gold medal story is one from which we can pull some useful wisdom.
By the way, someone that practices judo is called a Judoka.
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Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.