Turning Ambitions into Achievements

What does a fractional MD and my biggest personal achievement have in common?

As part as my role as a fractional MD it is important to created SMART goal driven targets for the businesses I work with.

With the Paris Olympics in full flow,  it reminded me of what I consider to be my own personal greatest achievement which related to our own Olympic adventure in London, twelve years ago.

To tell the story I need to go back to the 6th July 2005. I had my own residential estate agency practice in Chiswick and waited anxiously for the announcement of whether London or Paris would be chosen for the 2012 Games. As soon as it came through I gave out the biggest cheer and decided that I HAD to be part of it.

Without any qualifications or obvious route to working there, after some research decided to train formally as a Soft Tissue Therapist. Easy you think, just a bit of skin rubbing! Well actually, not so, Whilst having my own business, I undertook an intense 12 month course technical course (level 5 Diploma - bear in mind I left school with no qualifications) and 5x 2500 word written papers on such subjects as anatomy and physiology and every muscle group in the body, including all their actions, start and end points. I qualified on 22nd July 2007 which was just the start of the journey.

Over the next 5 years, whilst still holding down full time work, I:

• Joined a Physio company at the University of Hertfordshire, eventually working on elite athletes for the English Institute of Sport
• Became a director of the Sports Massage Association
• Worked for free an many dozens of sporting events including managing teams at the London Marathon annually
• Undertook 100’s of hours of CPD, learning additional skills
• Worked with LOCOG (London Organising Committee for the London Olympics), interviewing potential practitioners
• Opened a private practice clinic with my wife Karen at a dedicated treatment room we had built at home - which she still runs

Where did this lead? Well I literally just wanted to work at the Olympics so I would have taken any part of it, however, what my hard work and dedication led to was for the entire 2 weeks of the games, I was one of only four Team Leaders running a team of 25 practitioners in the main medical centre, treating athletes from all over the world.

Nick Silverstone with USA Olympic Rower Susan Francia - 2012

I have to say the moment I walked in through the gates on my first day, is the proudest I have ever been of myself.

So what are the parallels?

• I set myself an overall objective
• I broke it down into bite size goals, which each independently would not have meant much but together made me a valuable asset
• I never doubted my ability to try something new and succeed at it
• I demonstrated commitment to having 2x, in effect, full time jobs whilst having a family

Whatever job you do or interests you have, if there is purpose behind it and you set clear SMART goals, anything is possible.

Live your dreams!