Post-Olympic Blues Prescription: Go get your own podium!

Monday Morning Marketer

Congrats Canada! I am one among millions who have unpeeled my reserve and stood in naked Canadian glory… unashamed to claim both my national pride and my ‘go for it’ attitude. I am thrilled Canadian athletes, spectators, sponsors & officials owned our Canadian identity in front of the world instead of quietly in our living rooms. And yes, we did it. We owned that podium! The true north strong, free, funny, bold and brave! We are winners!

But… now what? If you are like me, you have a touch of post-Olympic blues and are wondering how to fill life with fist pumping adrenaline and opportunity to break out in cheer! Well, I have a few ideas… and it all starts with owning your own podium!

What does that mean? In a word… GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Sounds good right? It sure sounded AMAZING on Sunday at around 4:00 p.m. MST. But I’m not talking about a hockey goal. I’m talking about setting goals! That’s what “Own the Podium” really means. And that’s why it worked!

It means being brave, bold and ballsy… claiming what you want and risking what you can to get it! “What you can” is not always laying it all on the line, it’s just laying on the line what you can. Getting to gold is a journey you get to create for yourself, not just an outcome.

Imagine the alternative. If you don’t set a goal, if you don’t at least TRY to own the podium, how far will you get in reaching your gold? Will you even get to bronze? Will you get out of the starting gate? I’d say you may not.

“Own the Podium” was a ballsy, brave very Canadian campaign, in my opinion. In spite of our politeness and humility, we’ve always been a nation of risk takers! Calculated (aka conservative) risk takers. We just never bothered to tell the world before that this has been how we’ve really operated all along. The problem is not that we don’t seek to win gold every day… we just didn’t feel the need to tell anyone. In putting it out there, in telling the world that’s what we want, we raised the stakes. By putting it out there, we increased our accountability and commitment to fulfilling the dream. This is how goals work best.

“Own the Podium”: a marketing campaign built on a goal that attracted MONEY to it. Money that some would say could be spent elsewhere. But this is the way marketing works… setting goals, telling the right people, getting them excited, getting their support. Money and support are two big parts of the success equation. You get to define how much money and what success looks like… but the absence of these, however you define them, creates the absence of a business, the absence of excitement, the absence of hope.

So come on entrepreneur… what does your podium look like? What can you do in your everyday life that makes you sing your own anthem and have champions behind you with fist pumping adrenaline? How are you going to put yourself on top of your own podium?

Start by getting back to marketing basics. Set your goals. Name them. Brand them. Get a team on your side. Create a plan. Work that plan. Be brave. Be ballsy. Go for it, even if you aren’t sure you’ll make it. Sing out loud! Raise your fist in pride and shout hurray at your own achievements! Tell the world what you want. Become accountable to your own dreams. Be Canadian. Believe.

Envision your own podium. Now go own it!

If finding a support team who can help provide great business insight, networking & hands-on help will help you own your own podium, discover the new launch of teleclasses for entrepreneurs and local workshops. Visit http://www.mindset-marketing-money.com for more information or to register for events starting in March.