If I have seemed groggy for the past week or so it is because the Olympics have made me lose sleep.

I've been staying up well past my normal bed time watching magnificent athletes performing at the highest level of human performance and endurance.

I've watched them perform extraordinary feats of skill that have been practiced and honed over years of training and competition. I've watched some athletes surpass their personal bests into triumph and also seen them come up short (sometimes by as little as one thousandth of a second) in agony.

It took years of intense effort to attain those physical skills and their mental toughness. It isn't only their unique talents that bring them to these levels of achievement. It is their determination, their ability to surpass the pain of their exertion and to be able to build their muscles, their coordination, their intense concentration and their strengths.

How many times have they been injured falling off a gymnastic apparatus? How many mornings have they woken painfully stiff from sore, exhausted muscles? How many thousands of miles have they run or bicycled, or swam? How many tons of metal have they lifted in the gym? How many times have they practiced the same movements over and over and over and over? How many years have they invested in their sports for a chance of personal and national glory -- even though they know that there are so very few medal winners and so many also-rans?

It's all about dedication and focus.

Even though only a small percentage of people possess extraordinary athletic skills, we can all be champions at our chosen sport of business. Just as athletes get up after they fail, if we pursue our business careers with the same focus, dedication and determination, we have to get back out there when we don't make a sale or a successful negotiation.

Champions practice some more, then try again. All of us can dedicate ourselves to higher productivity, higher efficiency, higher levels of quality, focus and concentration -- and become a champion.

Opinions expressed solely are those of the writer. Larry Galler, of Larry Galler & Associates, is a marketing and management consultant for small and mid-size companies. For more information or to get his free report, "Tolerations driving you nuts? Eliminate them now!" contact larry@larrygaller.com or call (219) 464-9463.