7 Lessons on Mindset from the Winter Olympics
The Olympics represent the pinnacle of success for the majority of sports in the world. Athletes dedicate themselves to representing their country in a competition held only once every four years. What is there to learn from the Games and those who participate?
1. Believe in your Dreams - many athletes defy the odds and overcome adversity to realise their dream of becoming an Olympian. Many were told they didn't have what it takes. For many, if they had decided to 'be real' with their goals then they would never have dared to imagine competing in the Olympics. Some dreams stopped at becoming an Olympian, some dreamed of being a Gold Medallist.
Take Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, nicknamed the Snow Leopard, representing Ghana in the Alpine Skiing. An unlikely participant, having taken up the sport just 5 years ago, learning to ski at an indoor centre in Scotland. One of the slowest down the mountain, Kwame is creating success in his own way and gaining recognition for it.
Lesson: Never let anyone stop you from dreaming B.I.G. - Bold Inspiring Goals. Put a goal out there and commit to it and you will find a way to make it happen.
2. Courage - there are many examples of courage through the Winter Olympics with so many of the sports posing risk to life and limb. Many athletes competing report having recovered from broken bones, concussion and sprains - and yet here they are, undeterred, keeping the end in mind. Their greatest competition is within themselves winning the mental game it takes to perform at such a high level.
Consider the luge competitors, competing on a track just days after the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili; Canadian Ice skater Joannie having the courage to take the ice and win the Bronze medal just days after the death of her mother.
Lesson: Find the courage to face your fears and do it anyway.
3. Resilience - athletes suffer setbacks at one point in their lives, and they get back up again. Some are competing at their 2nd or 3rd Olympics, desiring to emulate and/or improve on past performance.
Slovenian cross-country skiier Petra Majdic fell three metres down an embankment in training, breaking four ribs. She didn't let this stop her and pushed through 3 qualifying races to make the finals and to then win Bronze. Remarkable!
Lesson: There will be obstacles in your way as you seek out your own success. How much do you want it? What are you prepared to endure to win your prize?
4. It's not over 'til it's over - athletes show that you have to keep going until the end and finish strong. In skiing and snow-boarding events anything can happen with crashes and slip-ups. Those who hang-on can still have a chance to win.
Back in 2002 Australia's Stephen Bradbury was coming last in the short-track speed-skating when all 4 competitors in front of him tripped and got entangled with each other opening up the way for Bradbury to skate through to a Gold Medal.
In 2006 Lindsey Jacobellis of the Unites States had a clear lead in the snowboard cross and went for a twisting grab in the air of her board - this caused her to crash and Swiss Tanja Frieden passed her by.
Lesson: Keep going right through to the end because you never know what opportunity falls your way.
5. Winning is in the process - successful athletes focus on the process because they know that is how the game is won.
When Australian Torah Bright prepared for her second run, she needed to perform after crashing in her first run. Standing at the top, Torah appeared to be relaxed and mentally prepared for her run. She knew what she had to do, and set out to do what she had practiced over and over again The outcome was a Gold medal.
Lesson: Success is about doing what you love and loving the process. Let go of the need for a particular outcome boosts your chance of realizing your goal.
6. Weigh up the Risks - many Winter Olympics events have scoring with points won/loss on degree of difficulty. Athletes know there are times to play safe and there are times to take risks. Someone might need to land a jump in order to qualify, or to stay on their feet to finish a race. When it comes to the final rounds, athletes are going for their most difficult tricks and attacking their race in order to be the best. Not everyone succeeds when they dare to risk, but better to have gone for it and create the opportunity to win, then to play safe and never know what could have been possible.
In claiming Austria's first Alpine gold medal for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Andrea Fischbacher claimed that she 'attacked from start to finish' and it was thought that favourite Lindsay Vonn skiied too conservatively and was relegated to third.
Lesson: There will be times you will need to risk failing in order to succeed. The higher the prize, the higher the risk you will need to take.
7. Celebrate - you always see the Gold Medallist celebrating their win, they are at the top. There is mixed celebration from those who come 2nd, 3rd and those who don't medal. The one who acknowledges what they have achieved, rather than what they have not, are the most satisfied and fulfilled. Knowing that you have given it your all and have done your best in the moment, it's now time to celebrate your achievement.
Lesson: Be grateful for what you have achieved knowing that this is a stepping stone to even greater things.
Olympians have an amazing quality of mindset that enables them to achieve high level of success that can help them beyond sport. Tap into what it takes to be the best and you can achieve too.
What rule book are you living by?
We all possess a unique set of values that acts as a sort of rule book for living, that guides the choices we make, how we spend our time, where we invest our wealth, etc. Tony Robbins considers values “like a compass that directs your life.” Our choices and behaviors are ruled by those top values. Whether individuals get what they want or not can often come down to their priorities, what their existing values system dictates.Do you know what values you live your life by? It is likely that you picked up your current values from those around you growing up. You will not do anything that falls out of your value system, even though you might not be aware what they are. More importantly, it is your top five values that determine your life and the results you get. Values can have a significant impact on the results you are currently getting and the results your desire.
A value is simply what is important to you in life or various aspects of life. Values tend to be words or phrases like “love,” “honesty,” “fame,” “financial security,” “living life to the fullest,” “playing 100%” etc. You can have a separate set of values operating within the area of career compared with your relationship values or your broader life values.
What happens when you Transition?
The problem for when you transition to a new career, or retire maybe that you continue to live by the same “rule book” while trying to get different results in life. When I first learned about the impact of values I took an in-depth look at what was in my personal rule book and how it had dictated some of my decisions and behaviors. I saw that “independence” had been at the top of my list for a very long time. I also valued hard work, integrity, and teamwork.
Money, however, in the form of financial reward was far down on the list in terms of my priorities, which was evident in the results I was getting at the time…or was not getting. And “love” did not even appear on the list at all! No wonder I was not creating successful relationships or getting ahead financially, no matter how hard I tried.
We experience what we deeply value.
Internal struggle and a lack of fulfillment can often arise when what we want to get, or what we say we value, does not match up with what we’re actually getting.
Someone may desire to be successful when really there is a deeper held value like “security” determining their decisions. They may choose to stay in a secure job, that they do not enjoy, rather than going for personal success goals. The need to be secure will outweigh their desire to take a chance on changing careers or starting a business.
Most of us “downloaded” our values system a long time ago, in our childhood, from our parents and those closest to us. They are stored in our unconscious mind and work in the background influencing our choices and decisions.
The good news is that you can change. Just like sports or governments may change the rules of their game, you can change your rule book. Awareness is the first step. Know what your current rules/values are. Do they help or hinder you? Learn what values successful people live by - you can read about them or simply guess. A person's lifestyle and environment often gives clues to what they value.
You may need to let go of some limiting beliefs you have about your current values. For example if you believe security is important and you should not take risks in life, then that will limit your ability to let go of security as a value. A coach can best help you work with your belief and values system to see where they are helping you move forward or holding back from all you can be.
Get started by looking at what is important in your life and be aware of how that is influencing the results you are currently getting.
7 Keys to Goal Achievement
I thought I was pretty good at setting goals and achieving them. At just 10 years old I decided that I wanted to go to the Olympics and I achieved that in 2000, representing Australia in Beach Volleyball. It did take me 24 years to get there but I always kept the end in mind. Lucky I didn’t listen to anyone who thought it was out of my reach.When I started studying Neur-linguistic programming I started to understand the science behind goal setting and I’ve been able to achieve goals and dreams in the last 3 years quicker and faster than ever before.
Goals provide you the motivation to move ahead. Here are 7 keys that you need to consider in order for you to achieve your goals, whether in the next year, or in your lifetime.
1st Key – Dare to Dream
Start thinking about who you want to be, what you want to have and where you want to go in your life. Have goals that you’re passionate about, that excite you. Think about what is that you really want, if you could have anything you desire.
Many people limit themselves in life by what they think they can get or deserve. I say dream big, without limits. It may take longer to achieve the bigger dreams, but you will never reach them unless you allow your imagination to take you there in the first place.
Often, we limit ourselves when we don’t even dare to dream big dreams or goals because we are thinking ‘how’ am I going to do that. The ‘how’ takes care of itself when you first decide the ‘what’.
2nd Key -Write it down
Many people don’t write goals in order to avoid failure, or they fear being accountable for following through. There is a certain power to putting a goal down on paper. It means you need to be clear about what it is you really want. I think this is so useful, because until I write a goal down it’s a wishy-washy concept that changes by the moment. Without clarity, it makes it very difficult to manifest what it is that you really want.
When writing a goal, be specific about what you want and put a date to it. That might seem scary to some, but it’s important to put a deadline to your goal to create the urgency to make it happen. Without that, the goal will always be out in the future – someday!
3rd Key – Visualize your Goal
Try your goal on for size by stepping into it as if it is happening for you right now. Be there in the picture, then also step out of the picture and see yourself achieving the goal. By stepping out of the picture, it gives your mind the idea that there is still something to get before achieving that goal. We don’t want you thinking that you’ve already made it! Visualization processes are very effective in adding the clarity and feeling to goals to maximize your ability to achieve them easier and more quickly.
4th Key – Take Action
It’s one thing deciding on a goal and then you need to start taking action towards it. How would you be acting if you knew you were going to achieve that goal? The important thing of taking action is doing something. At least by starting towards it, you’ll be surprised at what opportunities come in your life to enable that. When those opportunities come, you need to take them. You’ll start seeing and meeting the people even that will enable you to achieve your goal. And you need to act.Have a look and see who has achieved your goals before you. How did they do it? What is their recipe for success? What I suggest you do is ask yourself everyday – “What’s one thing I can today towards my goal?” It’s the little things that you do every day that will work you towards your goal.
5th Key - Stay focused
You are going to need to stay focused and committed to your goal. There will be obstacles in your way and as long as you stay focused on where you want to go, you’ll get around them. You will do what it takes. You’ll see other ways of getting there because it’s not going to be a direct route. Keep the end in mind and every time an obstacle comes along your way, keep asking yourself how can I get to my goal? With staying focused on you goal, you need to assess regularly that you are on-course. You may need to constantly adjust to stay on track.
6th Key – The Law of Detachment
Now, though you’re focused on your goals, the 6th key appears incongruent with everything else I have been saying - You need to let go of your goal. Even though you’re working towards it and you’re committed to making happen, you also need to let go of it ‘needing’ to happen. Some people visualize their goal every day, and having such wanting for it, it’s the want that can often push a goal away. “I want this” means “I don’t have it”. When you start believing that it will happen and trusting the process, letting go of it needing to happen exactly as you plan it to be, you’ll be amazed at what happens to your life!
7th Key – Think beyond your Goal
Your goal is not the ‘be all, end all’. What does your goal allow you to do? Each goal is a stepping-stone towards the next goal, towards the next thing. You may start to question whether your goals are meaningful. If you’re goal is to drive a fancy car, what does that mean for you. If you desire to go to the Olympics, what will that allow you to do? What goals give meaning to your life and the greater community? I believe the universe conspires in favor of those who are looking at goals outside of themselves and looking to help others.
These are all brief summaries of the keys I think are important to ultimately achieving goals. It should get you thinking about what you need to do now to move ahead with confidence and success in your mind. It starts in the mind so dare to dream!
Annette Huygens-Tholen is a former international beach volleyball player and participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. She experienced the difficulties of transition from sport and is now a Master Results Coach and International speaker using her learnings and experience to empower athletes to reproduce emotional and financial success in their life after sport. Her first book, Success beyond Sport, is out in Jan 2010. For more information on goal achievement, please visit www.annetteffect.com and sign up for the free mini-Ecourse.
Moving Beyond Limitations
As a results coach, I spend my time helping people overcome problems and create better results for themselves. The work I do is not about necessarily fixing something that is broke. It’s about looking at constant improvement.A common misconception when we have a problem is that something within ourselves is broken and if we can find the answer, we can fix it and everything will be ok. That mindset is limiting because instead of striving to be better we get “stuck” in the same pattern constantly fixing and re-fixing the same thing, never moving forward just staying on the same playing field. We fail to acknowledge that there is more, more outside of this mindset, more for us, more to our lives and more for us to achieve – our potential is limitless.
So think about that right now-what is an area you feel stuck in? You might be generalizing like career, relationships or health. Or you might be specifically stuck somewhere on something you specifically want to improve.
Our problems are problems of the imagination. Our problems have solutions, solutions of the imagination. Your beliefs and beliefs about whether you can or you can’t do something happen at an unconscious level. You might be taking in feedback from times you didn’t achieve something and that will determine whether you do it again. For example, you believe you can’t do something because you didn’t do it before and so you might not even try. Your automatic response is such and this is simply without even consciously thinking about it.
Beliefs are aspects of life that we believe to be true. I believe that nothing is actually true, right or real. I believe that we all have our own concept of reality. What I believe determines my reality - what you believe determines your reality. Beliefs are something you shaped and created in your early childhood years, however, with some understanding you can change the ones that limit you and open yourself up to a whole new way of thinking. Are you ready to open yourself up to a new reality?
You can change your reality by changing your interpretation of your experiences. What you decide when something happens will determine where you go. When you experience something you will decide whether it’s an opportunity or a setback and that will then influence how you respond. In turn, your belief structure will be shaped by this interpretation of that experience. You can change a bad experience into a good one by changing the way you view the event.
A simple example to demonstrate this is in selling. What happens when someone says ‘no’ or rejects your offer? Does this mean you are no good, or your product is not useful OR does it mean that with each no you are closer to a yes? Does each ‘no’ discourage you or encourage you towards your success?
So often when we think about what we want we limit ourselves. We think “we gotta be real”. Or we have to make this our goal because that’s reality, that’s really all I can do. You wouldn’t want to aim higher and disappoint yourself – would you? There is nothing wrong with going for it and maybe falling short of the mark… but at least you are going for it.
To do this, you have to get over what you rationally think is right. There is no absolute truth; it’s just what you see and what you put out as reality. To move beyond your limitations you have to create your new reality, believe in it and yourself and rid yourself of your old limiting beliefs. It is possible to go for gold and to create and reach your dreams.
Annette Huygens Tholen is a former international beach volleyball player and participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. She experienced the difficulties of transition from sport and is now a Master Results Coach and International speaker using her learnings and experience to empower athletes to reproduce emotional and financial success in their life after sport. For more information on how to successfully transition after sport, please visit www.annetteffect.com and sign up for the free mini-Ecourse.
Build a Dream Team for Success beyond Sport
Athletes are used to having all kinds of people with various skills supporting them to become the best they can be, to fulfill the dream. It is no different in life beyond sport—retired athletes don’t have to do it all on their own. They can benefit from creating their own dream team to help get a new business off the ground, gain ground in an unfamiliar industry, manage projects within a corporation or to enjoy the lifestyle they desire. Here are the type of people I want on my team to create the same level of success enjoyed in sport…or greater:#1: Coach
A personal or professional coach can teach new skills, train to optimize talents and keep one accountable. Have you ever tried to stay in the same shape or do drills on your own at the same level you did with a coach? It’s hard! Behind every high-achiever there is always someone on the sidelines guiding and supporting them with their wisdom and experience.
Imagine how things might be if you still had someone in your career, and in your relationships, to give you a game plan and help you prepare to play! What if you had someone you respected by your side every step of the way to point you in the right direction and tell you exactly what you need to do in order to achieve your personal dreams?
There are many styles of coaches away from the sports field, including life coaches, business coaches, strategy coaches, relationship coaches and mindset coaches. A coach will keep you moving forward from one step to the next in the right direction until you get where you want to go. A coach will ensure you learn everything you need to from your mistakes and setbacks so they don’t repeat themselves. That one person is always there to keep you focused on solutions and improving your weaknesses.
#2: Mentor(s)
Having a mentor is usually a less formal arrangement than having a coach. Many successful people are happy and willing to share their knowledge and experience with another keen to get into the same business or profession. As an Olympian I have mentored many an upcoming athlete by sharing my experiences, from life on the world tour to training practices.
Getting a mentor that has succeeded in an area of business that you wish to emulate gives you a perfect opportunity to model that success. To get a mentor all you have to do is ask! Many people are flattered to be asked. As long as it fits in with their schedule, they will very likely agree to mentor you to some degree. And if you persist, and use your team synergy skills you just learned, you may even have yourself a life-long mentor.
#3: Support Crew/Network
Who supports your dream? As athletes, most of us are lucky enough to have a kind of “extended team” of people who follow our progress and even get caught up in our dreams and ambitions, helping us get there in any way they can. These are not just cheerleaders. In the world of business, this is your network. Surround yourself with people that are willing to stand behind what you do because they believe in you.
Go to events, conferences and clubs where you can rub shoulders with like-minded professionals, especially those with similar goals or life paths with whom you can go the distance together. This becomes a mutual support team, a formal or informal group of people, whom you admire, respect, and learn from. Why hang around people that want to pull you down? Ideally, your time is spent with people “on the same wave-length” who hold you up to a high standard of achievement. Even better, they have surpassed your level of success and inspire you to shoot beyond what you thought possible.
As you grow and transition, developing a new career, you may start to mix in different circles, drifting away from some of your friends. That is a natural cycle. Now that you have left your sporting career behind, you will need to consider the balance between maintaining contact with that lifestyle and creating a new one to continue to develop a network that supports you, and possibly even your new identity. It’s not something you need to do dramatically and cut ties with life-long friends, as I’ve seen some people do. You may, however, need to make tough decisions if a person is constantly draining your energy or is holding you back. Be with the people who energize you and help lift your game.
# 4: Specialized Support
In sport, there are always doctors, chiropractors, physical therapy specialists, sponsors, media, even concessions staff on the sidelines making sure you get the proper nourishment and replenishment. Who do you need to help you achieve your dream in life beyond sport? They probably won’t just be there waiting for you in the wings when you get started. You have to go out and find the right professionals with the skills you need to launch your new career or reach your life goals.
Find those with specialized knowledge that you don’t have. If you are going into business for yourself, think about what kind of specialized support you will need. Do you need partners? Investors? Do you need to have referral partners in another organization to refer business to each other? Do you need financial support staff, an accountant, a financial planner or advisor? As you put together your dream team, you may find that staff or advisors that specialize in accounting, marketing, administration, internet and website development are critical to your career’s growth.
Start working out who you need on your own dream team to drive you toward success.
For more information on how to successfully transition after sport, please visit http://www.successbeyondsport.com and sign up for the free mini-Ecourse.
Self-Belief beyond Sport
I think a key to an athlete’s success is their unwavering belief in themselves and their own ability. This self-belief does not always cross over to skills outside of sport and can contribute to the struggle athletes’ face on retirement.Beliefs are aspects of life that we believe to hold true. What I believe determines my reality, what you believe determines your reality. So how do we come to believe different things? It often comes down to our experiences, particularly our experiences growing up.
Research shows that our experiences within our first 7 years of life are very instrumental in determining our beliefs, in shaping our beliefs. They can be shaped by our parents and what we see happening with our parents and around our community, or church. Think now about what you believe. What do you believe about your abilities, what do you believe about life?
I mean we all believe the world is round. But at one time in life, people thought the world was flat. And that was their reality. They hadn’t seen anything different.
So, what sort of beliefs are helping you or holding you back?
Some beliefs are great like “I am going to the Olympics.” I had a self-belief that I could do it and so that drove me to train and persist until I achieved it in 2000. I am sure there are things that you pushed for and created because you believed you could do it. I am also sure there are some things you are not doing because you believe they are not possible.
In particular, what do you believe about your ability to succeed in areas outside of sport? What do you believe about finance? Are you good with money? What about career, relationships, health.
I have now created an amazing life after sport because I broke through beliefs about what I could have in life. I chose to believe that I could continue on doing what I was doing, traveling around the world and have an amazing relationship that supported that. Before that I limited myself by thinking I had to choose between one and another. How often do we think we have to choose between one thing and the other? And then that becomes our life - one of compromise.
Think about some things you might have believed from when you were young – are you good enough, pretty enough, do you have what it takes? Sport is easy, math is hard. The list goes on, the beliefs list. It all goes back to points in time when you decide to believe something.
For example, I was at an airport watching this frustrated man berate his wife after a struggle through security. They had 3 tiny kids with them looking uncomfortable as their parents argued. The eldest little boy stuck up for his mom at one point saying it was not her fault. The father was doing the best he could with a difficult situation, however, at the heat of the moment he told the boy “life is hard and you had better get used to it”.
This little kid is probably 7-8 years old, and with that statement from his father a new belief was most likely shaped right there. I can just imagine him in 20 years time thinking “life is hard” and his life reflecting that. This is the power of the mind in determining our life. The good news is that beliefs can change. The first step is awareness. When you realize that you can choose what you believe then you are a big step forward in creating success in anything you desire, including beyond sport.
Annette Huygens Tholen is a former international beach volleyball player and participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. She experienced the difficulties of transition from sport and is now a Master Results Coach and International speaker using her learnings and experience to empower athletes to reproduce emotional and financial success in their life after sport. Annette also teaches seminars for the world's biggest NLP Coaching and Training Organisation -The Christopher Howard Companies. For more information on how to successfully transition after sport, please visit http://www.annetteffect.com.au and sign up for the free mini-Ecourse.
Sporting Success can be Depressing
For many people it’s hard to imagine how, after achieving sporting goals including Gold, that athletes could ever be unhappy. What is often the highlight in an athlete’s career can also mark the beginning of the lowest point as an athlete comes to grips with a life where the rewards are not so significant.The road to sporting success is paved with exhilarating highs and devastating lows. This can be particularly strong in Olympic sports where so much focus is put into an event that occurs only every four years For most of their life, potential Olympians are singularly focused, nothing else matters but getting that Gold Medal. There is often not a next time, there is only one time; it is a one shot deal with their entire careers on the line. Not everyone can win Gold on the big day.
Athletes are regarded as Gods. We place the hope of the nation on their success and they are faced with enormous pressures to not let their country down. That moment is the height of the career where they are treated like Gods on the Mount of Olympus playing for the fate of their kingdom. When they win the gold we treat them like celebrities; we throw them parties, we put their faces on cereal boxes but eventually life returns back to normal.
But just what is normal when sport is over? And how do you return to it when you’ve just been treated like a God?
Depression among athletes, upon retirement, is a well-recognised problem and can be accentuated by disappointing results or a career prematurely ended by injury. Few athletes consider life after sport. In fact, in the “normal world” most athletes are strangers. They have given up normalcy for the chance to live the dream. Everyday tasks we take for granted have been traded in for training.
When sport is over, that is the end of a lifetime of ambition. Even winning the gold can be correlated to a low in an athlete’s career because there is nowhere left to go- there is nothing left to achieve. Life as that athlete knew it- is over.
Many successful athletes suffer from depression because of the inability to transition to a more normal lifestyle. In March of 2009, Olympic Gold Medalist, Australian Diver, Chantelle Newbury checked herself into a Psychiatric Hospital after she made her second suicide attempt. By all standards she is a monumental success having earned her country a Gold Medal, yet she has no life balance. In April, Jobie Dakja, an Olympic cyclist took his own life unable to cope with the depression and the struggle after being expelled from the Athens Olympics and then suspended from his cycling, his life’s passion.
Depression is not limited to life after sport with cases of several experiencing depression through their sporting career. Some of it is psychological and some of it is chemical with overtraining linked to depression. Concussion has also been shown to increase incidence of depression, a problem for contact sports such as football and ice hockey.
Perhaps what makes it worse for athletes is that there is an expectation that everything is wonderful in the life of sport. There are accolades and special privileges, but for some this can cause psychological pressure. Andrew Johns is an Australian football player that found the pressure of celebrity overwhelming leading to drug abuse and depression.
Adding to the problem is that athletes often do not seek out help, preferring to put on a brave face than show signs of weakness. Olympic swimming champion, Petria Thomas, felt hopeless and had lost her passion and focus prior to winning her first Olympic medal back in 1996. With pain in her shoulders, Thomas declared “In a sense, swimming is all I felt like I had in my life.”
This one-side devotion to sport can both be the cause of their greatest success and their downfall. Though there are many factors contributing to an athlete’s mental pain, the important thing is that athletes realise they are not alone and seek help. As we suffer more and more fallouts from our countries top athletes we will be forced into a position to recognize the need for mental health support and to nurture a better life-career balance for our sporting heros.
Do Professional Athletes Invest Enough?
We’ve all heard that successful people have the ‘do whatever it takes’ attitude to make things happen. The problem, I think, is that everyone has a different interpretation of what is included in the ‘whatever’.One of the biggest mistakes that I made as an athlete was not being prepared to invest enough in myself and my own success. That’s not to say that I did not put money towards my sporting career, but I did have my limits. I was prepared to pay for trips and get to competitions, to do whatever it takes to reach my goal of going to the Olympics. But one person’s concept of ‘whatever it takes’ will differ from another’s. I think most people have some unconscious limit on what they are prepared to do to reach their goals. You see, I was not prepared to pay a lot of money for my own personal coach. I was not prepared to spend time or money strengthening my psychological game.
I always thought I was doing ‘whatever it takes’ but I now reflect there was more I could have done. I had excuses and reasons not to invest my own money – “I couldn’t afford it”, “I don’t need to do that”. If someone had stepped up and challenged my desire to do anything and everything to reach my goal, then I obviously was falling short.
Many athletes are used to getting hand-outs – from the government, from their sporting teams, from their sponsors – that when it comes to decisions that require them to personally make an investment, they shy away. There is no habit of success developed that tells the athlete that it’s a good thing to do – invest your own money and you will get rewarded. They don’t have any experience of this.
On retirement from sport, when there are no more hand-outs, they may be waiting for things to be handed to them instead of taking charge of what needs to be done.
Athletes, current and former, need to redefine in their own mind, what they are prepared to do to create success in their lives. What is ‘whatever it takes’ in relation to their goal? What are their limits? Are these limits the very thing that is preventing them from achieving success?
I wrote this because in today’s economic times people are looking at ways to cut back their spending. That can be a great thing – reduce unnecessary expenses. But it is not so great when it stops the same people from investing their money in their own future. I extended the loan on my home originally to purchase a second investment property. Instead, an opportunity came to invest in my own education. A little bit more risky with less substantive means of return, but the returns in the life I have created since have made it vastly worthwhile.
Athletes can reduce their own risk by getting a greater understanding of financial management so that they can also make the wise decisions on opportunities they come across. This education can happen while they are still playing sport or afterwards, as long as they are prepared to seek it out.
Doing whatever it takes will take some form of investment – time, energy and money. Are athletes prepared for that?
Annette Huygens Tholen is a former international beach volleyball player and participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. She is now a Master Results Coach and International speaker using her learnings and experience to empower athletes to reproduce emotional and financial success in their life after sport. Annette also teaches seminars for the world's biggest NLP Coaching and Training Organisation -The Christopher Howard Companies. For more information on how to successfully transition after sport, please visit www.annetteffect.com and sign up for the free mini-Ecourse.
Adding Value beyond Sport
Wouldn’t it be good to have wonderful role models out there in the sporting community, filling the newspapers and television news with stories of their positive exploits. Imagine all high profile athletes inspiring the next generation of athletes and the whole community to be better people themselves. Sadly, that is often not the case, with the media jumping on to any bad boy image, or social misdemeanour by an athlete.
I believe it takes a combination of desire to BE a true champion, and understanding and living by the values of champions. Values are what are important to someone.
How often have you heard, or even used, the excuse – “That’s how I am!” This was a regular line used by a high-profile football player to excuse his behaviour off-field when he consistently over-stepped the boundaries of his team. Despite requests to tone down his behaviour, he continued to be outspoken and speak his mind, because “That’s how I am!!” I guess teamwork didn’t figure as high in his values as fame or perhaps, expression.
In actuality, we don’t have to resign ourselves to being the way we currently are. Isn’t that fantastic news! If the way you are is not serving you, your team and the results you are getting, than you can take steps to make changes. Create a new you.
Our unconscious mind is a wondrous and flexible thing, and once we become aware of thoughts, behaviours and even values that are limiting us, we can go about changing them. We can create a set of values more suited to how we want to be and the results we want to achieve.
When I first looked at values in the context of my career, I had financial reward ranked very low. I was more focused on working hard, being responsible, teamwork, making a difference to others, and fulfillment. It was no wonder I wasn’t getting far financially and that I was in a work environment where people were more devoted to helping and contributing than getting paid well for it.
Through undertaking coaching and courses aimed at the mindset, I emerged with a new set of values where “Making a difference” and Financial Reward could sit alongside each other very comfortably. In the past I thought that I had to sacrifice my own well-being for the good of others. What I discovered was that not only are they compatible, they are truly connected. What better way to make a difference, than to be financially abundant to be able to give my time and money to others.
I looked into the values of the world’s best known and best loved champions. From reading biographies on Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Greg Norman and Tiger Woods, to name a few, I have found that they all share the following common values: Integrity, Responsibility and Family. I consider these values a solid foundation to becoming a positive role-model for future athletes as well as having a successful post-sport career.
To find out what values would serve you best, look at others that have created success for themselves and discover what they value. Perhaps it is someone close to you or perhaps it is someone publicised in the media. You can either guess what they would consider important to them in life, or read biographies. Find out what makes other people tick so that you can add value to your own life and create similar success.
Annette Huygens Tholen is a former international beach volleyball player and participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. She experienced the difficulties of transition from sport and is now a Master Results Coach and International speaker using her learnings and experience to empower athletes to reproduce emotional and financial success in their life after sport. Annette also teaches seminars for the world's biggest NLP Coaching and Training Organisation -The Christopher Howard Companies. For more information on how to successfully transition after sport, please visit www.annetteffect.com and sign up for the free mini-Ecourse.
If at first you don't succeed, find out how
One of the biggest lessons I learned over the years of striving for my goal was the power of persistence. On my journey towards playing for Australia in the 2000 Olympics, I never would have gotten over the setbacks of injuries and partnership changes without persistence.Persistence is really just another word for spirit. Everyone has things they dream of becoming. We all experience setbacks and failures along the way. The person with the most persistence, however, always ends up reaching their goal.
It helps to have a clearly defined goal and remaining focused on it. My dream to be an Olympian was like a magnet pulling me through and gave me the courage to keep going for it. Along the way I would often reassess the goals, questioning them and determining if they were really what I wanted. In my heart I believed I was good enough to succeed at the international level and play at the Olympics – even if nobody else did!
Every champion has achieved their personal goal through persistence – persistence in training, persistence through the hard times and even persistence through the good times, striving to be even better.Michael Jordan needed to call on the power of persistence early in his career. As a sophomore in high school, Jordan was initially cut from his high-school basketball team in Wilmington, N.C. Although Jordan felt heartbroken for a time, this setback compelled him to work even harder and this is what it took for him to realize his dream.
Every great athlete has had their fair share of setbacks and it is how you deal with these setbacks or obstacles that will determine your fate.
There is no such thing as failure, only feedback. One can learn the most from one’s failures – finding out what didn’t work and trying something different will, over time, ultimately lead to success. We do this from the very beginning of our lives learning new skills as a baby. Learning to sit-up, to crawl, to walk, etc. If we gave up on the first attempt at walking, we would all be stuck crawling around. We learn from each attempt, each mistake.
Through-out life then we will get results or outcomes. Some results we like, especially if they match our goals, and some we do not like. Our interpretation or judgement of the results will determine our next step – whether to continue as we are, to make some changes and still strive for our goal, or to change direction.
How do I know that a poor result, or repeated poor result, is an indication to make some modifications and still continue on the same path OR an indication to change course all together??
Firstly, a poor or undesired result is definitely an indication to make some change. It is said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expect to get a different result. “Perhaps if I just try harder next time!”
The best question we can ask ourselves is “How?” “How can I achieve my desired outcome?” When we pose this question to our unconscious, our unconscious can come up with the correct response when we are open to the answers. We also need to explore how important the end goal is to us. Is it something that is really what we want? If so, we must continue. Is it something that is achievable? I believe we all have the inner resources to do ANYTHING we set our mind and intention to. Marcus Aurelius said “Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also.”
What is important is how much you want it. How important is it that you achieve your goal. What is the value to you of achieving the goal? What is the cost to you if you quit now and go on a different path?
Each time you take steps forward and dare to fail, you move closer to your end-goal. Even if it is two steps forward and one step back, you are still getting closer to the goal. Once you expand your awareness to new possibilities, you can never go back to your old limitations.
The picture I like best to describe this is one where you imagine pushing something through a small hole in a wall. There is great resistance in getting through this hole and you may need several attempts to break through. You might even need some help from others to build up enough force to push through the barrier. Once you do push through the resistance goes away and you are into a larger room of possibilities.
Though at times it seems futile to push through a barrier in your life, once you do, it opens yourself up to even greater success, more than you perhaps even imagined.
