2012 and all that stuff

I occurs to me that in this year of the Olympics we could learn a thing or two from these highly toned and tuned athletes.
I am sure we all know that really all sportspeople do is turn up twenty minutes before their event and perform to international standards more out of luck than judgement.
Then it's home for tea and to put the medal up on eBay to make a few bob...
Now seriously we know that would be stupid as a concept, what would happen if their bus was late, they would lose out one the chance to be famous and respected by their peers!
Now let's consider this again especially in light of what we now know about some of the antics of the eastern block countries and how serious they took sporting achievements of their Olympic teams. Some of their competitors started at birth and were given little option but to join in the state sponsored fitness programmes, no fattys in front of telly, Xbox or wii here then.
Admittedly the powers that be planned winning at all costs from birth. So planning to succeed took more than a three year plan then?
On that note the Architect of my local cathedral in Salisbury knew from the outset that this was going to be a hundred year project and one it was impossible he was going to personally see more than a snippet of the construction finished. He planned for three or four generations of his family to stay in the same profession as did all the stonemasons and carpenters or the job just wouldn't get done.
So these two high performance examples of achievement took slightly longer than a series of X factor or big brother to plan execute and deliver to the world. Which of these is likely to still be remembered in say 50 years (Olympic champions) or 500 years (cathedral)?
So when you write your business plan think a bit further than this one recession. Most people will experience 4-5 recessions in their lifetimes if your business plan is 10 or more years long the effect will be just a small blip if your business plane is 3 years then regardless of the reality of the situation you're much more likely to throw in the towel. You can only lose it all if you give up now.