What I’ve learned from the 2010 Olympics

I absolutely love the Olympics. For those couple of weeks every 2 years I am basically glued to the TV. Since I am not terribly athletic myself, I really admire the skill, determination and strength it takes to get to the games. And then there is the fact that it high-lights sports I would never hear about otherwise (I mean, really…how crazy is luge and skeleton!!! So cool…) Combine all that with a chance to cheer for the country I LOVE and I’m hooked!

But on Saturday, I was standing in my kitchen. The TV was on in the living room (my house is fairly open concept, so I can see the TV from my kitchen) and I heard the broadcasters high-lighting a player from Canada’s Olympic Women’s Hockey team. Her dad happens to be a sports psychologist and they were talking about the advise he would give her.

(not a direct quote, for emphasis purposes only)

“He’d say enjoy the moment. Don’t focus on the result because that takes you out of the moment.”

A man after my own heart apparently…or maybe I missed my calling and should have stuck with psychology

I’ve heard wisdom like that all week! Canada’s athletes are absolutely brilliant (at least the medal-winning ones) in their abilities to deal with pressure and stay focused and the speeds, distances and heights they are participating at. So I’ve come up with a short list of things that the average gal/guy can apply to our own lives.

• Live In The Moment.

This is the most prominent phrase so far. I’ve heard it over and over again. They’re all saying that the key to staying calm under such intense pressure, is to live in the moment. The moment you start focusing on the outcome, you feel stress, pressure, anxiety, overwhelm. You’re out of the moment, and your chances of winning are done.

So true in life, too. I know that when I am in the moment (the zone, the vortex, happy, whatever you want to call it) life flows really smoothly. I just do what needs to be done. I don’t add a story to it (Why can’t he pick up his darn socks for once! I’m not his maid…grumble grumble). I don’t start to think about what I need to do to be a total success in life. I don’t get overwhelmed.  But the minute I over think stuff, it starts to get a little ugly. I stop truly listening (preferring to just interpret everything through my own lense). I get bossy and controlling. I get stressed. I start to feel like all responsibility for the entire worlds happiness relies on me. When I notice that, I can see how ridicuous I’m being and reign myself (and my ego) back into the moment. It’s almost as if being “in the moment” makes the ego disappear. Which I think is what Eckert Tolle’s, A New Earth was all about.

• Never Give Up.

Go as hard as you can, as long as you can, until the last second because THOSE are the people who win. Now, in context, this is not hard for me. I don’t work crazy long hours. I don’t even consider it work. IT does require effort. Like a favorite friend of mine said, it is “effortless, but requires effort.” Meaning it’s easy, but you still have to put action into it. LIFE is the exact same. It doesn’t have to be hard. But the people who are happy, healthy, successful and wealthy kept at it longer than their competition.

If you want that “gold medal” you have to put inspired action to work for you. Quit holding back and waiting for the perfect time (there will never be one) and don’t let someone else tell you how to live your life. You know what you have to do.

I can’t say this as a fact, but isn’t there a story of someone who fell or tripped in an event in the past, all thoughts of medals were gone. The person got back up and continued anyway, only to come in first or second place…people were disqualified, others fell…Am I crazy or just making it up? It does make for a good story if it is true! This also brings us to my third point.

• Crazy Things Can Happen (aka You Never Know What the Future Holds )

When Canada won the second gold medal, something really amazing was said. Maelle Ricker (Women’s Snow Cross) has enjoyed the sport since she was a child and always dreamed of going to the Olympics and winning a gold medal. This is all great and not uncommon, EXCEPT that until 1998  snow boarding wasn’t an Olympic sport. And Snow Cross wasn’t a sport in the olympics until 2006.  So despite her current reality and all that people told her, she dreamt of and olympic gold one day. I think that says a lot about our dreams and how powerful they are if we have faith in them. Maelle didn’t have to worry about HOW it would happen, she just new it would and prepared herself for when it happened.

• Have Faith in Your Dreams.

Like I said in the above point, have a little faith. Even though it doesn’t look like your dream will ever come true, you have to keep going. Act like it is coming true. Prepare for it. The HOW is not up to you, but you have to be ready and follow inspired action. People will try to bring you down. They will tell you to be realistic and to look around at the current reality of the situation. You don’t have to believe them. You don’t even have to listen. Follow your dreams, have faith in what you believe!

So those are my Olympic epiphanies. Feels really good to know that I am on the right track and that others, in really admirable places, follow the same advice from their sport psychologists, as I follow (and teach) as a coach. I guess I am a coach. That’s what I do. If you need help getting your own epiphany (or just want happiness and harmony in your life), join me for the free Happiness & Harmony Makeover call. Sign up at http://kimberlyenglot.com/hhteleseminar.

Enjoy the rest of the games!

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