By Nina Ganguli

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a workshop where I heard Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist Mark McKoy speak. He told of his story on how he came to reach the yet to be broken record in the 110 metre sprint hurdles.

He got into track and field at a bit of a late age, and wanted to be a sprinter, but when he approached the high school track and field coach, he was told that he should try out for hurdles instead. Mark was a natural and ended up winning 8 consecutive national championships in the 110m hurdles. In 1984 Mark ranked number 3 in the world and in 1992 Mark won the Olympic Gold Medal and his record time has yet to be broken! While he has had great success, what spoke to me most about his story were all the personal and performance hurdles Mark had to face before achieving his greatest success.

Before Mark won the gold medal in 1992, he came in 7^th at the 1988 Olympics. Mark’s journey ended in success and not by chance but by calculated risks, a vision and a goal. These are all the things that I am consistently coaching my clients about. Many people would have given up after coming in 7^th . What Mark did was the opposite. He decided he was going to get better. In many international competitions Mark didn’t quite rank as high as he would have liked and he had to make some decisions in order to achieve what he wanted. He had to move several times. He had to seek the best coaches, he had to give up many things most of us would have the guts to do. But he was passionate and most importantly he was committed!

What is it that you want? What hurdles have you overcome, what hurdles are holding you back? Finally what excuses are you making that are holding you back? The 110 metre sprint hurdles is like a metaphor for life and how you get over the hurdles will dictate your “ranking” in achieving the life you have been destined to live. In the 110 metre sprint, there are 10 hurdles that you must clear and then be the first one at the finish line to win the race. Here are 10 possible hurdles that maybe stopping you from reaching the end of your 110 metre race:

Hurdle (excuse) one: I don’t have what it takes: Really? You think you don’t have what it takes to live the life you want and deserve? How do you know if you haven’t tried? I don’t believe that in all your years of life that there hasn’t been an experience that could prove your thinking wrong! I remember when I thought I couldn’t write a book because I didn’t have what it takes. I decided I was going to try anyway and now I have published my first book: Confessions of a Can’t-aholic, How to go from “I Can’t” to “I Can!” (now available on Amazon.com) and I contribute weekly to this news paper. Amazing what you can do if you just try!

Hurdle (excuse) two: It’s not the right time: Okay so when will be the right time?

Hurdle (excuse) three: I don’t have enough time: everyone has 24 hours in the day!

Hurdle (excuse) four: I don’t have enough money: so what can you do to get more? Or what can you do to make your money go further?

Hurdle (excuse) five: What will people think? Um who cares?

Hurdle (excuse) six: I don’t have the resources: Maybe you need to be more resourceful and think outside the box!

Hurdle (excuse) seven: I don’t want to rock the boat: Why not? Sometimes the boat needs to be rocked! If someone didn’t rock boats we wouldn’t have iPhones, iPads, and iMacs.

Hurdle (excuse) eight: Who am I to want to live my dreams? Who are you not to? The universe has given you a dream, you are meant to fulfill it.

Hurdle (excuse) nine: What if I fail? Failure is just a lesson, learn from it and move on! Trust me; you will be 10 times more successful if you fail a few times!

Hurdle (excuse) ten: What if I succeed? In the beginning of my journey, this was my biggest fear and as I achieve more and become more successful according to my measure of success, I am finding that it is quite exhilarating and almost addicting because of adrenaline rush! If you do succeed, you’ll never want to go back. A small disclaimer though, you still may have setbacks and failures, but once you taste the success you want, you won’t want to give up pursuing that which you were meant to do and you will begin to live in the world an even better version of who you are today!

My people, hurdles are always going to present themselves, but it’s up to you to figure out how to get over them. Find the right support, make difficult decisions, but never regret not doing what it takes to live a life of purpose and fulfillment!

It’s my honour to serve you! God Bless

I’d love to hear from you! Contact me at:

nina@theapostropheproject.com