Watching Olympic swimming events and the gymnastics competition, one can get the impression that success is measured by 1/100 of a second. You can tie someone and still technically lose. Can you imagine the disappointment of such near misses or the magical thrill of such close-call wins?

Fortunately life success for the typical person (not to be confused with being average) is usually not measured in such minute terms — although we can act and over-react like it is. We can take our missteps too seriously and worry about consequences that aren’t even close to being as humbling as stumbling on a first hurdle and falling flat on your face in front of a worldwide audience.

The Olympic Games are important because they can actually help us to keep perspective. We don’t lose out in the game of life success by such small margins. Often, we get second and third and more chances to make a go of our goals. Life is (we hope) a longer race; we can lag behind for a time and still catch up (like the Canadian silver medalist in the triathlon). We can change our minds half way through life about what we want to specialize in and still excel. And, best of all, we don’t have to do our best before the age of 30! (Although remarkable athletes like Dara Torres are making 40 the new 20 even in Olympic terms)

Better yet, our goals and dreams are just important as those of an Olympic athlete. We have the opportunity to touch the lives of others on a daily basis, not just once every four years. We can let our ideas and our actions ripen and take wing without worrying about a finish line. In fact, we tend to be more successful when we don’t worry about the finish line and just take the next best step right now with clarity and focus. We can inspire others in small and large ways that are just as full of heart and proud intention.

In the game of life, if we’re smart, we learn to celebrate mini-successes as well as the big, momentous life successes. Yes, life success is measured by how much we stretch and challenges ourselves, by how often we move out of our comfort zone and do more than we think we are capable of doing. But better yet, life success it is measured by how much we appreciate daily opportunities to learn, receive, teach and give for as long as we live.