Not Your Normal Snow Skier
On Wednesday, April 24th, 27-year-old Ryoyu Kobayashi did something many readers of this site have done before – he woke up one winter morning, went to the ski lodge where he was staying, put on his gear, and began to head down the mountain.
But this is where the similarities between Kobayashi and the rest of us come to an end.
You see, Ryoyu Kobayashi is a world-class ski jumper, likely the greatest ever. He took up ski jumping early in life and soon joined the Tsuchiya Home Ski Team. In the 2015-16 season he began competing on the world stage as a teenager. Only three years later he was dominating the competition. During the 2019-19 season, Kobayashi won 13 world cups including the overall title, ski flying title, Four Hills Tournament, Raw Air, Planica7 and Willingen Five.
A Record-Breaking Performance
But it was in Iceland on the 24th of April that he did something no one in history had ever done before. Kobayashi skied down the ramp as fast as he possibly could preparing to launch into sky. Once he was airborne, Kobayashi stayed in flight for approximately 10 seconds. When he finally landed, Kobayashi had jumped a world-record 291 meters. This was 37.5 meters farther than anyone had ever jumped before. See the video below of his record-breaking feat:
Afterwards, he was profiled in this article for Red Bull. As Kobayashi discussed his historic achievement, we learn five things you must do to stand out from all others.
To Do Things No One Has Ever Done Before, You Must See Things No One Has Ever Saw Before
Richard D. Scott said, “To reach a goal you’ve never before attained, you must do things you’ve never before done.” I would like to add that to reach a goal you’ve never before attainted, you must see things you’ve never seen before.
Kobayashi remembered, “Last September, when I first visited this place, all I saw was a rock. It was hard to imagine this place covered in snow then, but I knew this place has the perfect natural slope. I could not have asked for a better ski jump hill. This was an incredible experience.”
Most people saw a rock, Kobayashi saw a natural slope and the best ski jump hill he could ask for. This is what the great ones do.
Leaders, when you look at your processes, products, problems, and people, what do you see? Is it something no one has seen? If so, you may accomplish things no one ever has before.
Previous Performance Should Give You Confidence
Kobayashi said his 2019 performance gave him “a lot of confidence.”
The past is a slippery slope for leaders. It can either give you confidence or complacency.
Many times the greatest threat to current performance is past performance. Leaders must diligently combat complacency. After all, Babe Ruth famously said, “Yesterday’s home run does not win today’s game.”
The past can cause complacency, but it can also give you confidence. This is because if you have done something once, if you put in the work and properly prepare, it is possible you can do it again. And if you improve, you can potentially do it even better.
Kobayashi added, “It’s difficult, but most of the time, you must give your best performance or else you won’t win.”
Current Performance Should Give You Conviction
Kobayashi continued, “It’s difficult to put this feeling into words. This is my dream come true. This experience will up level my career, this record will be my source of strength going forward.”
The value of high-performance should be to give us the strength, inspiration, and conviction to achieve even more in the future.
Focus Is Required For Peak Performance
In competitive situations, the following are just a few of the things that can distract us:
- The competition
- The elements
- Market conditions
- Your tools and resources
- The expectations of others
Kobayashi allows none of these to affect him. He says, “I don’t really pay attention to what’s going on around me. Only on my own performance.”
To perform at an elite level, you should do likewise. Don’t worry about everything else, just focus on your performance.
Flexibility = Sustainability
What made you successful today will not keep you successful tomorrow. The world is just changing too fast.
Kobayashi understands this. He said, “I’ve been able to adjust with flexibility as the situation arises, so I’ve been at the top for the last four or five seasons.”
Conclusion
Normal is over-rated. To stand out from the others you must do the following:
- See things others have never seen before.
- Be confident.
- Have conviction.
- Focus.
- Be flexible.
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