You’ve probably never heard of Robel Telkemariam. I know I hadn’t. However if you haven’t heard his story your missing out on not only a great story but a perfect example of overcoming obstacles. Robel is an Ethiopian competing in the 2010 Winter Olympics. As a cross country skier he qualified as one of the 95 Olympians that competed just recently. Needless to say Ethiopia and skiing don’t go together but he still made it. As entrepreneurs the lessons from his story should inspire us to overcome the obstacles we face.
What do you do when you face seemingly insurmountable obstacles?
1) You Invent - How does one train for cross country skiing in Ethiopia? By developing a custom set of roller blade type skis (seen here) that allowed him to train without snow.
2) You Lead - The number of Ethiopians that have made it to the Winter Olympics is zero! In order to over come major obstacles be prepared to be the first. Not just prepared but ready to embrace it.
3) You Create – There was no Winter Olympic committee even in Ethiopia so Robel had to spend nearly a year lobbying for one before he could even have a chance of representing his country in the games.
4) You Desire – The trail that has been blazed for future Ethiopians to enter the Winter Olympics has been created by Robel. The fuel that set the blaze on fire was his desire. When you couple desire with vision the results can change history.
We all face obstacles. Some are real while others are perceived. The next time you face one just think about the Ethiopian Winter Olympic skier, Robel Telkermariam and don’t quit.
