With the Olympics now in full swing, and winter sports and transfer windows coming and going, being at the top of your game is something that is on most peoples minds.

Top athletes aren’t at the top because they get up there and just coast on their successes. They’re constantly working to try and improve and better themselves. They work on their performance, they’re abilities, mental and physical attributes – every day is a new day to be better then they were the day before. If they slip and decide to take a break, you can rest assure that there will be someone else on top of them, ready and willing to take their place.

Becoming complacent isn’t uncommon. It happens to the best of us. When it comes to top performers, this can make or break their career. If an athlete becomes too comfortable and starts to let themselves go a bit, they’re traded, released, replaced.

This is all to true in real life as well. When you take a look at companies, their staffing is always based upon a hierarchy of performance.

The hard workers generally have more responsibility and usually some better opportunities because they’re constantly trying to improve. Then you have the people that are there to get in, get the job done and get home. Their shifts or details may not be as exciting or extensive, and responsibility is usually diminished. Relying on someone who is there just to fill a void and get something done as quickly as possible by whatever means necessary, isn’t always the best option. Having someone that is efficient, and goes the extra mile and exceeding expectations – this is the person everyone wants on their team.

In the security industry – this is a harsh reality.

Whether you offer security services in Toronto or anywhere else in the world, you constantly have to work like someone is after your job.

Everyone is replaceable – no one is so valuable that they are untouchable.

Every security company is the same – almost every company is the same.

Its basically a fact of life.

Complacency only gets you so far.

If you want to be considered for the best positions, the best details, more responsibility and the most pay – always striving to improve yourself isn’t just an option, its a fact.

It shouldn’t be a secret there are definitely less desirable security details just as there would be in any job.

When you’re just starting out – as with any position, you might not be dealing with the most glamorous people or sought after locals.

Everyone starts from the bottom and works their way up.

Granted – people do get lucky. Sometimes its not what you know – its who you know.

There tends to be at least one in every organization.

But being lucky only gets you so far. Proving yourself and your worth is crucial to retaining your ‘luck’ and your position.

A top athlete gets up every morning not asking why or how. They’re doing it.

They’re at the gym. Training. Setting goals. Achieving them. Getting better – every single day.

They take things to the extremes – but their careers and futures rely on it.

If they get injured or get sick, they’re out. The world stops for no one and they’re replaced by the person who has been chasing after them the entire time.

If that person performs at the same level and proves their worth – that ‘star’ that seemed like they were the best of the best, is now seen in a whole new light.

They are replaceable and there are others that are just as worthy.

Whether or not the set back was their fault or not, it happened, and someone stepped in and stepped up. Competition is on.

Now there are at least two people at the same level, trying to be the top performer. While they’re working for the same team, they want to be at the top.

Getting to the top takes hard work, determination, and endurance.

Staying at the top takes even more.

There is a saying that every morning a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must

outrun the fastest lion or it will be eaten. That same morning a lion wakes up and it know it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve.

Regardless of if you’re a lion or a gazelle, when you wake up – you better be running.

The faster you run – the further you’ll go.

So whether you offer security services in Toronto or another major city in the world  – get up and run.

Run for the top.

No one is irreplaceable. So run like someone is always after you – because more often then not, there is always someone right behind.

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Guest Blogger Rayna Davies

Rayna Davies is a graduate and practitioner of Business Management.  She has developed an expertise in blogging, covering subjects like travel, world events and security.  Having grown up with a father who has developed an expertise in Physical Security and Executive Protection in the RCMP and two major corporations, she has personally observed and experienced many security details.  These experiences have included personally meeting HM Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister Jean Chretien and many celebrities.  She presently assists Sentinel Security in Executive Protection workshops and guest blogging and also assists Gloprosec Preventative Services in Intelligence gathering and Business Administration.  Her passions include World travel, having visited every continent.  She currently is on maternity leave and providing daily close protection for a baby and a toddler and spending time with her husband who is a Police Officer.