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What does leading 2008 Olympians Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liuken, 41-year-old Dara Torres & 33-year-old Oksana Chusovitina whave to do with leading Women in Business?
By admin | September 15, 2008
Answer: these women are not only 2008 Olympic Medalists, they’re winners and warriors to inspire you and me when we want to give up (or don’t think we can win, or (insert any self-defeating reason here)_____.
I’m sure that YOU never feel like giving up or that you can’t win… but some of us mere mortals (me included) do somedays. When I get anywhere close to that, I need some ideas, people and energies to inspire me. These women do just that…
‘Ready to be amazed??
Consider these amazing women…Nastia Liuken– Gold Medal for the All-Around Gold Gymnastics
Shawn Johnson– World Champion & Gold Medal Winner
Dara Torres– 41–year-old swimmer who won Silver
Oksana Chusovitina- 33-year-old gymnast (now that’s old in “gymnast years!)
What did they do to achieve their amazing feats?
What can we learn from them?
Trust your training and just do it.
See your goals.
Control your Mindset.
Never give up. Never give in. Never say die!
Yeah, the Olympics finished a month ago, but they’re still fresh in my mind!
Why?
For one, I had the Absolute pleasure of seeing Gold-Medal All-Around Winner Nastia Liuken & Gold Medal Beam winner Shawn Johnson (plus all of the Olympic gymnasts) at an exhibition yesterday, and Man was it fantastic! (more about that in a moment).
More importantly, there were some true athletic super-studettes in these recent Olympics. Some had some very inspiring stories with a bit of philosophy that could benefit us all…
This article is about having vision, and creating & returning to the right mindset and persistence.
This article is about “getting there” and “making it” even when the chips are down and it seems impossible. It’s about going forward even when you don’t want to…
Let me start with an unknown gymnast- one who’s name most of you will likely never hear of (and I won’t be mentioning it here).
She’s an almost-Olympian. She won many competitions recently, including national titles. I actually have a lot of respect for this young lady… and yet, nobody will ever likely know her name because, despite her ability to do so, she didn’t make the Olympic team.
Now, I’m not throwing stones here, ’cause you certainly didn’t saw my name on the list of “2008 Olympic-team member,” but the young lady I’m talking about can teach us a good lesson.
Here’s why:
This Almost-Olympian- won many competitions. She definitely has the skills to be on the team… so, Why is she not there?
According to a coach in her gym- it’s mindset. This young lady is a GREAT gymnast… but not not so good of a competitor.
What do I mean?
I’m talking about the way she plays the game when in the heat of competition….
I’m saying that, according to good sources, when something goes wrong early in a competition, it tends to spoil this young lady’s whole outlook, and therefore her performance, for the rest of the competition.
And that leads to losing when she has a great chance of winning.
It’s too bad, because that she has So Much Talent, and so much Passion, and I was really rooting for her!
So what does this have to do with you and me?
Well, it has to do with Vision, the Right Mindset and with Persistence.
You can’t be afraid to fall is you want to climb to great heights!
Next: Vision
Now, Nastia Liuken, who won the Gold Medal in the Women’s All-Around Gymnastics event, has had “Olympic Gold” on her mind for a really long time. To start with, both of her parents were Olympic gymnasts and medalists. Her dad trains her. She can’t help but have gymnastics and winning on the mind.
And, when interviewed on Oprah, she talked a little more about her vision and how she kept in the forefront of her mind. Nastia said that her mom had suggested that she read, “The Secret” a long time ago… But she put it on the backburner and did nothing about it until she saw Oprah talk about it.
(And moms– doesn’t that just burn you when your kids don’t take your advice, but then hear some big-shot (no offense, Oprah) give the same advice, and then all of a sudden it’s worthwile? Harumph!!)
Anyways, Oprah was interviewing “stars” from the movie, “The Secret,” and several mentioned the importance of having a Vision Board. When Oprah validated the idea, Nastia went ahead and made her own vision board. She got really detailed- putting Olympic gold medals on it (she specifically found out the Bejing 2008 designs), and other graphics that painted her, Nastia Liuken, as a 2008 Gold Medal winner.
Hmmm, maybe there’s something to this “vision board thing.
Right Mindset:
Shawn Johnson was interviewed not too long ago, and was asked why she thought she was so good. One of her responses was,
“I’m not afraid to fall… I love to fall.”
Leading Women in business are Not Afraid to Fall.
(or, if they are, they apply that whole “Courage and Action anyways” tactic)
As a woman in business, you’ve got to prepare, you’ve got to be prepared to take risks, and you’ve got to be prepared to fall… and then to get up & keep on going!
Okay, lastly, as promised, this post is about persistance.
This is about “How Cow! Are you KIDDING ME??” persistance…
When I was really young, I decided that I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast… and for a while, I trained and went for it. But after a while, life, moving, money (and insert other excuses here) got in the way and I gave up gymnastics. And, while I can still throw a back-flip in the park or the gym, I’ve been pretty sure that Olympic gymnastics has been out of my realm of possibilities for a while now, seeing as I’m, well, much older than the average 16-year-old gymnast.
And that’s been my “real story” for some time now… until these Olympics.
I had several “Holy Cow! No Way! Are you serious?!” moments.
The first came when I learned that 41-year-old Dara Torres was competing as a swimmer. 41! That’s not “old,” but it sure is for Olympians. Dara Torres recently competed in her FIFTH Olympics, has a 2-year-old, and trains with people 1/3 her age. FIVE-TIME-OLYMPIAN? Now THAT’s PERSISTENCE!
Next, while I sat back admiring Dara Torres, there was a small part of me saying, “yeah, but that was swimming. I could probably start putting a few laps in at the pool & catch up to her… but she could never do what the gymnasts do… Yep, I’m definitely too old for the gymastics olympics dream…”
And then I learned about Oksana Chusovitina. Who?? (You might ask, ’cause I sure did!). Oksana, an Olympic competitor since 1992, is from the Soviet Union… I mean Uzbekistan… I mean Germany… (yeah, she’s been competing since the Soviets were still a Union!).
Oksana has has continued to pursue her dream of Olympic Medals by competing for 3 different countries. Why? Well, the first is obvious- after the Soviet Union dissolved, she started competing for Uzbekistan. Then, her son Alisher was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. When some coaches in Germany extended an offer to help get both funding and treatment for her son, she moved to Germany. She was to compete in 2004 Olympics for Germany but didn’t yet have her citizenship, so it wasn’t until 2008 that she competed for Germany and, at the age of 33, won the Silver Medal for Vault. That’s pretty close to my age!! (Hey– maybe my Olympic Dream can still come true…?)
Is that persistance, or is that persistance?!
So we bring it back to us ladies in business: do we want to be lay down and wilt when hardships arise (and you and I both know that they will!) or do we want to Stand Up Tall, Continue towards our Visions, Keep the right Mindset, and be Persistant?
I love the question that James Arthur Ray asks in his book, Harmonic Wealth,
“Are you a Peasant or are you a Warrior?”
Meaning, do you find yourself being a “victim of your circumstances,” wanting to give up and give a half-baked effort after some set-backs, or are you a Warrior- in control of your life and your business? Do you get back up after you fall down? Do you persist?
This book is both a reminder and a road map on how to get back up and stay on top.
It, and most certainly all of the women mentioned here, are an inspiration to me, and a reminder that serves as a tool, that when the chips are down, we need to:
Have a Strong Vision
Keep the right Mindset
Persist…Persist…Persist…
Topics: Marketing, Personl Growth, Women in Business |
August 17th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I think that the young gymnastic whom you speak about displays a good point - if you let a bad start ruin your outlook, you’ll fail in many cases.
Everyone should realise that we don’t progress towards our goals in a linear fashion… there are ups and downs - sometimes downs for a sustained length of time. While we know that if we pursue our dreams fiercely, we will get there in the end - we also know that if we give up on the first downer, then we’ll never achieve our goals. This is an important message for leaders hoping to practise inspiring leadership across the world also - people shouldn’t be praised only when they’re heading upwards, but in the short term downswings too.
February 15th, 2010 at 3:03 am
I just wanted to comment and say I love your blog!