The exchange of ideas, tactics, and techniques with peers and mentors coupled with a desire to try again is the most effective way to keep us focussed on the way forward instead of on our misses in the past.
…And/so keep going.
• Fear and doubt are normal – so embrace them when they come…
• Expect that some things will be bigger, or involve more change than you expected…
• You will never be qualified to know your own limits…
• You will never know until you try …
• (in sport) You are far more likely to pass out than ‘die’…
• There is always a bit more that you can do or try or learn…
Sport isn’t the only thing like that –final exams, job interviews, marriage, kids – large events where the outcome carries some importance to us – are things that we can prepare for and yet when we get there – we usually have to admit there were things we weren’t prepared for. This is the cornerstone of my mentoring.
My Mentor Messages…
At the beginning of each month I reach out to athletes, and the support team around them, who are training for the upcoming Olympics. Working as part of the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Olympic Preparation Program, I began this series of messages in the spring of 2009 for Canadian athletes who were training for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. The feedback I got was incredible.
“Your (messages) were so timely that it was almost like you were sharing a brain with all of us. They were very timely and provided me with a great deal of useful insight into the very things that I was thinking about at the time. About perspective and preparedness and believing in the plan. All these things helped me do the homework I need to be my best on Feb 18th and 19th. I’m proud of my performance on those days and thanks for helping bring that out of me.”
Jon Montgomery, Olympic Champion, Skeleton
The second series started on Jan 1 2011 for athletes and the support group around them who were training for the London 2012 Olympics. (You can read the full archive of Mentor Messages here.)
Summer or Winter Games it doesn’t really matter. There are elements of the Olympic journey that are the same. The Olympics are different and no matter how much you think you’re ready for the very fact that they are different – you are likely going to be a bit surprised by how you feel about them when you get there.