At the National Association of Realtors 2009 Conference and Expo in San Diego Sugar Ray Leonard delivered a presentation. The following is what we learned from hearing a true champion speak.

He steps to the microphone weighing 175 pounds at 5’9″ and quietly says, “I know what you are thinking. He ain’t that big, I’ll bet we can take him.” The conversation quickly turns to what makes the average person achieve extraordinary success? What makes average anything but? In the words of Sugar Ray Leonard at NAR it is about frame of mind, goals, vision, determination and P.O.W.E.R. That is his acronym for Prepare, Overcome, Win Every Round.
“Make no mistake about it,” he says, “We are all fighters fighting every day for what we believe in and what we want.” He acknowledges the risk of that task noting that we cannot be afraid to take the risk. You take huge risks every time you step into the ring. It would be safer to sit on the sideline, safer to not have the dream, safer to call off the fight, but without the risk and without the fight the victory will never come. Sugar Ray reminds us that our fear should not lie in taking the risk or in potential failure, but our true fear should lie in doing nothing.

Theresa & Len of Course Creators with Sugar Ray Leonard

So who cares about what the odds are or what the critics say or what will “probably” happen? It is up to us to focus on what is possible.  If you want to be better, stronger, faster, then Sugar Ray says it comes down to a single principle. What are you willing to do everyday that the competition is not?  He explains that for him it was running extra miles, training longer hours, preparing for longer rounds. Without that determination true talent never develops.

So what are you willing to do today that your competition is not? Is it one more phone call, an extra email, one more hour early in the morning or one more hour before you turn out the light? In that world champions are born.