Jared Connaughton, right, racing against Sam Effah at this year's Canadian championships, tries to focus on the aspects of sprinting he can control. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

Recently I've read about the United Kingdom's run towards the 2012 Games in London, and the multitudes of resources dumped into British programs with hopes that the support will lead to medal-winning performances. There is an astronomical amount of funding and man-power available to these athletes.

Then I thought back to the social support, coaching and funding received by Canadian winter athletes and coaches leading up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and how immeasurably influential this support was to those athletes and their success. In sport it's often cause-and-effect: money typically equals results.

My immediate thought was, "Why not me? How come I don't get free massages or shoe contracts or TV deals?"

I was jealous, resentful, and envious. Then I began thinking about the buzz word "hater" and what constitutes a "hater."

As humans we have instinctual mechanisms to protect ourselves, be it from violence, oppression, embarrassment, ridicule, etc. But as society has become more enthralled with "value" and "worth," we've been systematically designed to envy those who have more or have it "easy."

One thing I've begun to discover is that when we as humans, athletes or otherwise, waste time on being anxious or jealous regarding things that are completely out of our control, the world passes us by and we're left standing in place, with no momentum and already behind the 8-ball. Let's face it, life ain't fair, and it sure ain't equal. But when you buy into that philosophy of  "woe is me," then you're wasting your potential for something great. Joe Rogan once said that "100 per cent of the world's haters are simply unrealized potential."

Money alone doesn't buy success

I think about the hatred between fans of the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts - they despise one another. On one side are diehard Tom Brady fans, the other side Peyton Manning fans. Yet the ironic thing about the whole thing is that the two quarterbacks have a mutual respect for each other that borders on friendship. They've both come to the conclusion that "I could hate him for being such a great athlete, but instead I'm going to use his success as motivation."

That's the reason they're both so prolific and legendary. Not because they hate those that impede their heroic rise to the upper echelons of their profession, but because they've both taken long, hard looks into a mirror after a practice or a game and asked themselves "Did I do enough today?"

That's was separates legends from haters. Not necessarily genetics or coaching or funding, but will.

No amount of government money or social assistance will ever result in an Olympic medal. Rather's it's the willingness of athletes to appreciate the support and to be inspired by those "better" than them to make them stronger that makes the difference.

I don't care about being the big kid on the block. I've never been the biggest, or necessarily the fastest. Deep down I want to remove that concept of being "the man" and enter a Zen-like state of mind where that crap doesn't exist - only the work, the outlook, the perseverance exists. Everything else is minutia.

I wish I was better funded, I wish I had a big shoe contract, I wish track and field athletes were paid more evenly, I wish I could pay my coach better. But I can't control any of those things. What I can control is my attitude, my effort, the choices I make on who to surround myself with, and that willingness to go the extra mile.

There's not enough money in the world that can give me those things. I have to earn them.