Are you watching the winter Olympics? WOW, intrigue, crashes, beautiful people, awards….it has it all! Olympic athletes are a great source of inspiration and motivation. This year I’ve been paying close attention to not just who is winning, but how they are behaving as well. Whether it’s downhill, cross country or ice skating here are 4 lessons for turning on the imaginative mojo, especially when it matters most:
1. Put it all on the table: Even after all the crashes, mistakes and missing the qualifiers Olympic athletes in their post race interviews talk about giving it their all. When they are at the starting gate its go time no matter what the conditions, past experiences or competition. They put it all on the table and don’t hold back. It’s part of what makes them great.
Where are you holding back? Where do you make excuses so that you don’t have to face the fact that you may crash?
2. Soak in the energy of the crowd: I love the energy of the crowd, don’t you? I was watching how the ice skaters really soak in their surroundings and almost use the energy to their advantage. When a Canadian skater took center rink the crowd went wild and she gave the performance of a life time. Every time the crowd cheered she responded with an even more impressive move.
Who do you know that will cheer you on? What are you doing to create that type of energy around you? What are you doing to create the opposite type of energy?
3. Compete with yourself: Have you ever seen a race where the guy at the head of the pack makes the big mistake of turning around to look at his competition? In that instant he loses his edge, his focus and usually his advantage. That guy is too busy competing with others. Some of the best Olympic athletes talk about competing with themselves. Doing better than they have in the past, not better than their competition. Of course they are there to beat everyone for the Gold but they do so by first beating themselves.
Are you constantly striving to get better or are you too busy trying to get better than others? Are you looking over your shoulder or are you looking in your heart for motivation?
4. Always go to the finish line: Wednesday night I saw something inspiring. During the men’s cross country marathon an Olympic athlete that the announcers had totally discounted came up from behind to take the silver. There were 3 at the head of the pack chasing each other’s heels. Then in 4th place, far behind, was the guy in red. Inch by inch he crept up. In the last mile, of 24 miles, he went from being so far behind that he couldn’t see them to passing them on the inside. No one thought he would do it but he did. It was awesome to watch. The lesson, always finish the race. He could have given up and accepted his fourth place position. After all, what he did was close to improbable. He did it because he came to finish the race and wow did he do that!
Where have you given up 1 mile before the finish line? When did you let the fact that you couldn’t quit see the finish line deter you from your medal?
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Tags: creative games, creativity, empowerment, imaginibbles, innovation, innovative thinking, lessons from athletes, motivation, right brain exercises, self help, tamara kleinberg, training like antheles, winter olypics
