Who are your 5 people?
Carrick on Suir has a population of 5000 people. The population of the World is 7.9 Billion.
The Tour de France has taken place 110 times.
40 individuals have won the Green Jersey in the Tour de France, as some have won it more than once.
Statistically there is a 1 in 158 million chance of someone from Carrick on Suir winning that green jersey, yet two Carrick men have managed to accomplish that feat.
How is that possible?
The answer might be found in looking at the effect that a successful person has on those around them.
In Carrick there was always a history of domestic cycling success going back for many years. There is always someone better than you to train with, for the most part.
Cyclists learn from each other and it was often said that you learned more about racing in the car going to and coming home from the race than you did in the race itself.
When you had a World number one to train with the next level down became top domestic and international amateur cyclists.
They in turn brought up the level that younger riders had to train and race at and this in turn led to the next generation of successful cyclists and that cycle continues to this day.
And it is not just in cycling that this occurs. Boxing is another tough sport that requires grit, perseverance and determination to succeed. Katie Taylor has had a phenomenal career. Hailing form Bray in County Wicklow a school just down the road from her home has become another example of success leading to success. Take a moment to watch these 3 short videos with the sound on to see how that has manifested itself:
October 2022
December 2023
Matthew Syed in his book Bounce describes how he became the number one Table Tennis player in the UK. Growing up in Reading, population 174,ooo, he lived on Silverdale road. That one road produced the following Table Tennis champions:
- No. 119 – Andrew Syed – 3 National Junior titles
- No. 119 – Matthew Syed – 3 time Commonwealth champion and double Olympian
- No. 274 – Karen Witt – Multiple National and Commonwealth Championships
- No. 149 – Andy Wellman – Doubles National Champion
- On the next street over were :
- Paul Trott – Junior National Champion
- Jimmy Stokes – Junior National Champion
- Paul Savins – Junior international
- Alison Gordon – 4 time National champion
- Sue Collier – Schools national champion.
Being surrounded by others who are excelling in their chosen sport obviously leads to success for the individual in that particular sport if they put the required amount of work in.
Success can mean many different things to different people, but it can be worth taking a few moments every now and then to stop and think what success means to you.
There is a saying that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Choose those 5 people wisely.
Barry
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