Setting new goals and keeping your New Year resolutions

CatMedal

Putting a medal on a cat might seems way easier than putting jam on one – but the ‘jam’ has to come first!

After a conversation with Matt Galloway, the host of CBC Radio’s Metro Morning ( Toronto, RadioOne) a podcast of our conversation and this article was posted on CBC Books web site. Their title is partly right… but the truth of the “Jammed Cat” is that it helps anyone achieve any goal, big or small. In no way is the Power of More about Olympic size goals only.

How to win an Olympic medal with a jammed cat

Three-time Canadian Olympic gold-medalist Marnie McBean knows it’s a weird concept. But she can’t help comparing her journey to becoming Canada’s most successful summer Olympic athlete to a cat slathered in jam.

One day, McBean’s jam-covered piece of toast fell, she told Metro Morning. Of course, the toast fell jam side down. It always does. Most people, would make a new piece of toast, but McBean started wondering if there was any way to stop the open-faced sandwich from falling that way.
“What happens if you put jam on the back of a cat and you dropped it?” she said. “It would never land … like a perpetual motion type of machine.” Continue reading

Cool – you did that too?

Pert Plus Since I’m on a reminiscing kick… ( see the previous blog post about my mom’s gift)

In 1992, I came home from Barcelona with two Olympic Gold medals. I was 24, a world and olympic champion and when I went back to university – even with all that success – it seemed that no one knew (or cared?) what I’d achieved. I remember walking around the Western campus realizing that no one cared about the Olympics or had any idea of what an awesome summer I’d just had. I was disappointed… But not totally surprised, after all – I was just a canadian rower.

On my first Thursday night at the Ceeps that changed a little bit. The Ceeps is an off-campus bar (I actually worked there, bussing tables when I could work it in with my training schedule) – and it seemed that after a few pints of beer canadians had a much better memory! I was shown that they were passionate about the Games and Canada’s success. Maybe it was just liquid courage to share, but suddenly I heard about all the time they had spent jumping up and down on their couches – screaming “GO CANADA!!! ” and singing with/at their TVs. It was awesome! I was so proud of what we’d done and it was so great to hear how Canadians were too. That said, the wee bit of fame didn’t last long. Pretty soon, everyone – including myself – got back to our normal lives and the summer Games seemed far away. The Olympics and the mistaken idea that I’d be ‘famous’ for winning at the Olympics…faded.

Until my Pert Plus commercial. Continue reading

My Rowing Career in a Book: My mom’s incredible labour of love

“Once there was a dream… The result is history”

My mom gave me an amazing gift for Christmas this year. It’s the most incredible book/binder that includes all the press clippings that she had kept from my entire rowing career.

Apparently it’s been her project for months. She was working on it all summer: sorting, cutting, compiling…. From the scribble page in my high school note book that was and ode to the sport I was just learning in 1986* (!!!! How did she find THAT!), through Jr. Worlds, rowing/awards at Western University, Sr Worlds, PanAms, Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, Arctic adventures, snowboarding, triathlons, fundraising, sponsorships, profiles, Kilimanjaro climbs, awards, inductions, Olympic bids, PanAm bids, civic/ambassador events, job announcements, car articles, home reno articles, more fundraising, mentoring and … finally my book launch in 2012. Coopers and Lybrand, Timex, Pert Plus, Milk, AT&T, Avon, Pepsi, Zurich Financial put me in some incredible campaigns. Each clipping she included shows the date, and which newspaper – usually via a clipping from that days newspaper.

It’s all there. Continue reading

Ambition toward Sochi … Happy 2013

2013Happy New Year!                        <La version française suit>

“Today we live in a world of instant everything – food, career, money, victory, happiness – we want it all now. The concept of working towards something for several years and overcoming seemingly endless obstacles to achieve a goal is not as pervasive as it once was.” Kristina Groves

This quote was part of Kristina’s blog in early December, just after Jean-Philippe Le Guellec who has been competing with the national biathlon team for 9 years, won his first World Cup race. (Congrats J-P!) She was recalling how long it took for her to win her first race and “the special kind of attitude to find the simple joys and appreciate small steps forward within the endless struggle to the top.”

The fact that you care about each step and every detail, and have an insatiable curiosity to do – and achieve— more, is what makes you so good at your sport. Continue reading