There’s always a lot of inspiration and lessons learned from the Olympics – for the athletes, the spectators, and the world. What new approaches took place at the Summer Games and what can you learn from them?
One pair of athletes – David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig set a new standard in men’s beach volleyball. The pair have an unlikely story. They are from Sweden, not Southern California. In beach volleyball they are regarded as young to be at the top of the sport – both 22. Although they are slightly over 6 feet tall, they are considered short for beach volleyball.
More importantly, they don’t play beach volleyball in a conventional way. If you’ve ever played backyard volleyball in the summer, you probably know that you can only touch the ball three times before hitting back to the other side of the net. It’s the traditional, “dig, set, spike!”
So how have the Swedes found success?
They don’t do the second touch of the ball, the “set” in a traditional way – staying on the ground and lofting a smooth ball into the air for their teammate.
Instead the player setting the ball jumps in the air. He has the option to “set it” or “spike it” depending on what the defender is doing. It’s a unique approach that is confusing to the other team.
Ahman and Hellvig have been using this approach for about a decade. Most people told them that it would never work, but it is working very well.
They won the gold medal in Paris!
How This New Approach is Relevant to You
When thinking about this strategy, it seems very straightforward, and it also works. Where in your life, especially your finances, are you missing something that is obvious?
Perhaps you can’t see it on your own. Maybe you need someone to point it out to you and after you receive the information, you think, “Wow, that makes a lot of sense. How come I never realized that? I’m going to start doing that right away.”
The list of financial items that you can be missing out on varies. Maybe it’s something like maxing out your 401(k) every year, knowing where your money is invested, or using the QSBS tax exemption for company owned stock.
Whatever, the case, let’s chat about how I can help you uncover some unrecognized approaches that can help you.