With all the competition and the expectations for these athletes it can be a struggle both mentally and physically.

Struggle for an elite athlete? If you don’t think so, then you haven’t been one or don’t know any.

I think “struggle” is just the updated version of “agony”.

Like you, I don’t naturally associate an Olympic-level athlete with “struggle”. Rather, I associate them with achievement. Sure, they struggle along the way, through training and practice and mental conditioning. Then they compete with their peers, and some end up on the top medal stand. Sort of sounds like a real estate franchise national convention.

Mark’s comment “…agents – that develop the mental game to battle and persevere ” is spot-on. Athletes do the same thing. The commercial you reference was trying to capture that point, but perhaps missed it. But the ad company accomplished their goal – you noticed the commercial.

And now, back to the struggle…..

Struggle is dodging sniper bullets training to represent your country, a fledgling democracy. See the heroic struggle of Dana Hussein.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Hussain

By the way, in ERAHouston, we claim the host country flag bearer, Yao Ming, who towered above the world’s finest athletes, as one of our own!

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=3523166&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

–
Tom Johnson
www.ERAHouston.com

i used to be highly competitive in martial arts. in fact, for 6 years, 6 days of my week i spent 8 to 12 hours a day training. yeah, there’s sacrifice – living the kind of life of “normal” people. hardship – physical pain and exhaustion. however, there’s a quiet internal struggle, “is this for me?” “what am i doing this for?” “can i really make this happen?” like you mentioned. this is the mental game. as an athlete on one hand you have physical hardship, on the other you have the internal struggle.

i think realtors (entrepreneurs) know these two (hardship and struggle) pretty damn well… how many have questioned themselves during that first year? whether they can cut it as a business owner? wondering if they can survive without a company sponsored 401k, group benefits, paid days off? that’s the struggle of the entrepreneur. the mental game… the life of “normal” people in conflict with being a realtor.

to be frank, this struggle never goes away. when physical hardship is at a peak, the struggle is, too. it’s the athletes – and agents – that develop the mental game to battle and persevere that become our best and brightest champions… the agentgeniuses and stomperagents if you will