Last week we started a series on the Olympics with a look at rowing and alignment.  This week we’ll look at gymnastics and knowing your center.

The things gymnasts are able to do are absolutely mind blowing.  They can do flips and twists during their floor routines.  They turn and spin while on a balance beam that is 4 inches wide and 4 feet off the ground.  They fly through the air, turning on the parallel bars.  They vault through the air becoming looping tornados.  Just thinking of all of this makes me dizzy. 

The spinning is impressive.  Even more impressive is that they stick the landings.  How do they do this?  They do this because they have spent years training their body to be in balance.  They have spent years finding their center of gravity and learning how to maintain their balance through an assortment of twirling and whirling circumstances.

How does this connect to life?  Life is all about spinning you around.  It throws you on balance beams and asks you to walk a fine line as winds blow.  Life asks you to vault through the air taking risks, twisting as you fly.  Life swings you around in circles like the parallel bars.  In order to stick the landing, you need to know your center, your purpose.  This is the thing that keeps you in line as you spin.

How does this connect to work?  It’s the same concept.  This time it is the changing environment and landscape that is making you spin.  It’s the ruling you didn’t see coming.  It’s the growing power of the payer.  It’s the trend of integration.  This is where your purpose of helping that specific patient comes in.  This is where your purpose on your team comes into play.  The more clarity you have on who you are, where you fit, and what you’re trying to accomplish, the better your center of gravity, and the higher the chance of you sticking that landing!

The challenge: Have you found your center?  Will you stick the landing?

Have a jolly good day and go Team USA,

Andrew Embry