Usain Bolt is the fastest man who ever lived. He holds the world records in both the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints, and he is also a part of the fastest 4 x 100 team ever.

It takes vision, purpose, and grit to spend four years training for a nine-second race, especially in a world where patience is lacking and when people who don’t see results after a month or two give up and quit.

“Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.” (Proverbs 29:18 NASB) Four years is a long time to train for such a short race. Your vision is what keeps you inspired and motivated to keep training when you don’t want to or don’t feel like it.

Purpose is why we do what we do. Usain Bolt’s purpose was to become the fastest man in the world. Knowing what he wanted to do and why he wanted to do it helped keep him focused through the four-year journey and grind. Having a meaningful purpose can help you stay focused on the things that matter most to you, it helps prioritize your life, and it helps you walk away from things that don’t serve your purpose.

Grit is having the passion and perseverance to do hard things. Training for an Olympic race is a hard, grueling process. It requires a lot of grit to stay on track and to keep pushing yourself, especially when you don’t feel like working out.

Another characteristic that is necessary to become great is patience. Patience is just not only the ability to wait or to endure something, but also consists of keeping a good attitude while waiting and enduring.

One of the things that separate good athletes from great athletes is their ability to be patient as they continue to work hard to achieve their goals. Usain Bolt had to be extremely patient during the time between his Olympic races but that didn’t stop him from working hard.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 NIV)

In Christ,
Jonathan Anderson