Notes From Tina Fey

I like to think that great ideas are all around us. We just have to let ourselves see or hear them. This month my thoughts started from a bit in the book Bossypants by Tina Fey. (I will admit that for Hallowe’en two years ago I dressed up at Tina Fey doing Sarah Pallin…  I had her accent down cold. I may be a fan – of Fey- not Pallin!) I have no authority by the publisher or author… but here is a bit from the book. Sadly, I’ve taken all the funny bits out for brevity.

Fey lists some “Rules of Improvisation”:

  1. Always AGREE and say YES – if you don’t your scene will ground to halt
  2. After saying YES… add something to the scene with AND… if you don’t, again you’ve come to a standstill
  3. Make statements – in other words, whatever the problem be part of the solution. “Instead of saying –Where are we? Say –Here we are in Spain, Dracula”
  4. There are no mistakes.  Many of the world’s greatest discoveries have been by accident.

What struck me as applicable to the life of a high performance athletes came as she presented the first rule. Continue reading

2010 is gone. 2011 is now

(Version française suit.)

Recently, speaking with an athlete who had competed at the 2010 Olympics she said that when February was done, on March 1st 2010, she was surprised to realize the “2010” that she had been anticipating and training for was over and yet there was still a whole year left.  She realized it wasn’t the year that was important: It had been a single day, Feb 18th 2010, that had been her goal. Now it’s 2011: “2010 is gone. It’s so weird”.

2010 is done and there is no question that the Vancouver Olympics were incredibly inspiring – a whole nation jumped up and SANG!!! Keeping the Nation fired up is not your role, but it is up to you how you manage the legacy of that inspiration – in you.  Will you treat it like a sugar high- a moment of crazy energy, hope and drive only to fizzle out like the Flame did on Feb. 28th 2010? Or will you, like your winter teammates who wear the same Leaf you do, carry the mantra “I Believe” into your every day; into your training, your nutrition, and into the balance in your life?

There is no reason why “I Believe” shouldn’t be part of your goal setting too.  Continue reading