November 7th 2013, and jump jockey Tony McCoy rides to victory on a horse called Mountain Tunes at Towcester race track. So what, you may ask. Well, it's not the horse or the track that's the goal achievement lesson...
That win was Tony McCoy's 4,000th win.
If you're not familiar with horse racing, that might not mean anything, but it's a milestone which is so far ahead of anyone else. It's jam packed with goal achievement, it oozes goal achievement, and as someone who loves both sport and goal achievement, how could I *not* write about it!
No-one else has ever ridden 4,000 jump winners. In fact the next best total is around 1,500 winners behind, which helps to put into perspective just how far out there McCoy's tally is.
He's been champion jockey for 18 consecutive years, and to stay at the top for so long requires so many characteristics - desire, endurance, focus, hard work.
He gets up at 6 every day, goes to bed at 11. He travels 75,000 miles a year to ride, often making 8 hour journeys to ride an unfancied horse.
To get to 4,000 winners, he's ridden 16,000 times, and has a fall every 16 races or so, so that's 1,000 falls - that's in a sport where the ambulances follow them around because it's so dangerous! Needless to say his medical history is littered with broken bones, and in fact he started the 2013/14 season 3 weeks late due to punctured lung and broken ribs.
His natural body weight is 168 lbs but to keep at his racing weight of 143 he maintains a regime of running, dieting and steam saunas. For 20 years! He turns 40 next year, but has no intention of retiring just yet, and his total of winners continues to rise.
Despite all his success, there was one prize which eluded him - The Grand National. There was a feeling that if he didn't win it, there would be a gap in his career, and he finally won it on his 15th attempt!
Regular readers of mine will know that sport gives such ready lessons in goal achievement, because the results are so easy to see, and I make no apology for continuing to write about a combination of 2 things I enjoy so much.
McCoy's 4,000 winners really is impressive.
Think to your own goal - are you prepared to put in the dedication? Are you focused enough? Are you in it for the long haul? Are you ready to put in the good old fashioned long term hard work to get there and stay there? Tony McCoy is ready to do it day after day as he has all these years, so why not use his latest milestone as a nudge to get yourself moving?
By the way, if you'd like more articles about the connection between sport and goal achievement, head over to my blog, where you can also find out how to make money from the subjects http://thegreatgordino.com/category/sport/
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