We have been watching the Olympics this last week. Have you? It’s been wonderful to see sports that never get TV coverage being celebrated as their athletes put everything on the line to win. There is something inspiring about watching people embrace their greatness and perform in their brilliance.

As inspiring as it is, there is also a downside to watching world class athletes preform at unfathomable levels physical skill, strength and endurance. It makes it easy to believe that greatness is only available to certain people and only the select few get to be brilliant. That’s just not true.

Olympic athletes are great because they started with some natural talent and genuine enjoyment of the sport and then at some point, they made the decision to become great. They made the commitment to taking risks and pushing beyond their fear to try things they had never done. They dedicated themselves to hours and hours of daily practice in the pursuit of excellence. They chose to embrace failure, whether in the privacy of the gym or in front of millions, and use it as a spring board to the next level of success.

Greatness is a decision. It’s a commitment to showing up, getting better, pushing farther and expecting more. Anyone can make the decision to be great. Few of us will play our greatness out on a world stage in front of millions of people, but that doesn’t make our commitment any weaker or our accomplishments less impressive. We can commit to embracing our brilliance and owning our greatness within our home, our relationships, our business, our community and/or our industry.

You have experienced moments of greatness in your life where you were willing to take a risk to do, be or have something better. You’ve let go of the comfort of a sure thing, ventured out in to uncharted territory, risked disappointing the people you love or said “yes” to something you weren’t sure you could accomplish. These moments are building blocks for your greatness now. You know how to do it. Like the Olympic athletes, you know how to push fear aside, laugh at failure and focus on what you want . . . . it’s already in you. That’s important to know because no matter what your reality looks like right now, your decision to be great is far more powerful than any obstacle that seems to be standing in your way.

I’d love for you to share your moments of greatness with the members of my global community. Please share your comments below!