Olympic Medalist Chloe Kim - Upside Down
Are you as inspired by the winter olympics as I am? The behind the scenes stories and journeys of the athletes - the people - are what I love the most!
We're all in this game of life together, doing the best we can on any given day. And when life turns us upside down, when the slopes become a bit more slippery, or when we fall down and make mistakes, it is how we RESPOND that determines how we persevere and overcome. This is where living more mindfully and intentionally is a total game changer! This is what helps us mindfully respond, remembering WHO we want to BE, versus mindlessly or emotionally reacting, preventing us from moving forward and rising up to BEING our best self and rising up into living our best life.
In last week's Wellness Bites, I shared 7 Strategies to Go From Unmotivated to Inspired . If it really is 90% mental and 10% physical, then there are important life lessons we can learn from Olympic (and paralympic) medalists that can help us persevere as we navigate through the game of life, especially when our world is turned us upside down, as the cycle of life will at some point.
Here are 7 attributes (similar to my 7 Strategies to Go From Unmotivated to Inspired and to the 7 Life Lessons Learned I share in my book, One Bite At A Time) of Olympic medalists, according to Maddy Malhotra, Success Coach & Author, worth remembering and practicing as part of living more mindfully with intention, on purpose:
1) They develop empowering and successful beliefs
Olympic athletes believe they can be, do or have anything they want in life. They change attitudes and create habits which help them in making them world-class performers. They reprogram or recondition their mind for achieving gold medal(s). Unlike most of us, they are not controlled by their fears. They challenge ideas and opinions, rather than just accept them as fact.
2) They know thoughts become reality
They take responsibility of what they dwell on in their mind. They consciously choose to focus on successful, healthy and happy thoughts. They think big unlike majority of people who think about just getting by. They are aware of the fact that what they repeat in their mind will become a belief and affect their success/performance. Their actions are congruent with their thought processes.
3) They understand the power of emotions
They know managing emotions is crucial for achieving success. Thoughts and beliefs trigger emotions so they make sure they have positive and fruitful thoughts as much as possible. They do things which make them feel content and proud. They motivate themselves by emotions related to their dreams and passion rather than by just money and/or fame. They have the ability to put aside anything else going on at that very moment and focus only on the task in front of them.
4) They have coaches and mentors. They are ever-ready learners
They believe in working smarter so they learn from the mentors or role-models that are the best in their fields which also helps them accelerate their performance. Unlike an average person, they invest time, money and energy in getting better. For them failure is an opportunity to learn and grow. They spend hours practicing, studying their competitors, watching videos of their performances and session after session with their coaches/mentors. Champions are known for being open to world-class coaching.
5) An unfailing attitude to win
They are determined to win whatever it takes. They are, mentally, prepared to pay the price and to stay committed no matter how much burden and fear they feel inside.
Olympians are fearless and focused on manifesting their ultimate dream of bringing home the gold.
6) They have a clear purpose/vision
They have a very clear mental picture of what they want, why they want it and how to move closer to their target objective. They spend time on setting goals and creating action plans which will help them achieve their dream. They are bold and daring visionaries. Their accountability is measured very often unlike a common man who has no system in place for it.
7) They expect adversity and failure
They are driven to succeed, but unlike the majority they don’t avoid mistakes, risks or failure. They don’t seek security or comfort. They are criticised but are persistent. They choose discipline over pleasure. Unlike others they don’t believe that compensation should instantly follow any effort. They know it can take years to manifest their ultimate vision/dream.
Remember that knowledge is power and that we always have the power within us (our inernal "Super Human Power").
So, ask yourself as part of your mindfulness practice today,
"Which one of these 7 attributes or behaviors resonates with you the most?
Which one scares you the most?
The one that scares you or makes you uncomfortable is the one that will make the biggest impact on your life once you start practicing and doing the work. This, I know for sure.
In closing, if you're in a challenging place, feeling stuck or still trying to figure out your purpose, your passion or even just your goals for this year, here's a Wellness Bite to chew on - Simply close your eyes and get still.......................what do you see when you envision living your best life? Put your ass where your heart is and go do the work!
May you BE INSPIRED by your own life, and may you RISE UP and into living your best, healthiest, happiest, most inspired life.
In Light and Love, Susan