SUCCESS AND YOUR ENVIRONMENT

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KENYAN’S PRE-EMINENCE IN DISTANCE RUNNING AND WHY YOU SHOULD VET YOUR MILIEU.

...56 medals at the Olympics games, despite boycotting the 1976 and 1980 games. Kenyans continue to astound the world with their sublime performances in distance running. What galvanizes intense curiosity in this Kenyan phenomenon was the fact that about 90% of the top athletes are from a single enclosed area in Kenya – Nandi hills.  

So, what miracle might have happened on the Nandi Hills? Geneticists concluded that although genes cannot be ruled out completely, there is a stronger force in action. In the Book, “Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham and the Science of Success”, Matthew Syed gathered that Nandi Hills are areas of high altitude; and the altitudinal training the inhabitants are subjected to unequivocally boost endurance. But clearly that wasn’t enough, here is a text from the book

“...when you also factor in the remarkable fact that many Kenya’s top runners ran extraordinarily long distances to school, sometimes in excess of 20km per day (because of the non-existence of public transportation)...gives a persuasive explanation of this running phenomenon” 

Clearly the structure of their environment played the major role in this huge success.

Vet your Milieu!

So here is the point: check your environment. Your milieu – social and physical environment – just like in the case of Kenyan athletes, will always determine your success. While you might not bother to run on hills or jog up to 20km every day, you might want to think about your company. Jim Rohn said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” I have found this statement to be of utmost veracity. Again, is your physical environment riddled with distractions? Drifting you gradually away from your goals, or are you constructing your own ‘Nandi Hill’?