Eliud Kipchoge shares his life lessons with CrossBoundary

This shattered a barrier of human speed and endurance that many thought could never be beaten. He combines his incredible athletic talent with a deeply humble presence and the inspiring message that no human is limited. 

Last week, Eliud joined an online gathering with the CrossBoundary Group team and their families from across the world to speak about his path to success and his philosophies for living a purposeful and intentional life.

As the CrossBoundary Virtues statement says – building this firm to fulfill our purpose is a marathon, not a sprint. So, for us, this was an opportunity to learn from the best – and learn we did.

Some of the key messages that really stood out for us included: 

• Find purpose: Once you have a sense of purpose, you have done 50 percent of the work required to achieve your goals. 
• Be consistent: Consistency underpinned by a positive attitude will support the development of self-discipline. 
• Say no: Stay focused on achieving your priorities, take a regular dose of ‘Vitamin N’. Learn to say no. 
• Create teams based on respect: Practise teamwork based on mutual interest and mutual respect. This means listening with empathy and understanding that the team is more important than the individual. 
• Dream big: This stretches your capabilities and helps you realize your potential. 
• Surround yourself with people who challenge you: Work with people that are better than yourself so that you are continuously improving and growing to realize your potential. 
• Confront your problems: Learn to be a problem solver (a confronter), instead of an avoider (an evader). 
• Enjoy the journey: The path to success is more important than achieving your goal. Enjoy the process of planning and preparing to succeed – enjoy the journey. 
• Choose Positivity: Our minds can only hold one thought at a time, choose to be positive. 

Our time with Eliud was inspirational. It confirmed our sense of purpose in bringing investment to where it’s most needed around the world. It encouraged us in many aspects of our culture to face our challenges head-on with a bias to action, to work around people who are better than us, to nurture and value each other in a culture of accountability and respect, to enjoy the work we do, to be present in our journey and recognize the beauty and joy of the world even as we seek to make it better.