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Ruben's Story Featured in...
The Champion's Creed
Talking Business with Ruben
Gonzalez
Success Staff
RUBEN GONZALEZ SUCCEEDED in making his dream of competing in the Olympics a
reality. Gonzalez took up the luge, hurling himself down an icy track on a
sled at speeds over 80 MPH. While most Olympic luge athletes begin training
by the age of 10, he started at 21.
To some, Gonzalez’s dream seemed hopeless, but four years later, he
qualified to compete in the Calgary Olympics and again in Albertville. But
his most memorable Olympics would be at Salt Lake City in 2002. At age 39,
he was so much older than his competitors that some mistook him for a coach!
Nevertheless, Gonzalez’s story embodied the Olympic spirit, which is why he
was chosen as one of 200 Olympians to carry the torch that year.
Gonzalez is the author of "The Courage To Succeed" and will be featured in
the upcoming film, Pass It On. Now a motivational speaker, he shares his
story and provides insight to audiences on how to push beyond their
limitations. Success asked the three-time Olympian for his advice on
achieving your dreams.
IGNORE DREAM STEALERS
“If I could go back and give advice to myself when I was starting out, I’d
say not to listen to the dream stealers. When I first started, I called Lake
Placid (home of USA Luge) and the man who answered laughed at me when I told
him I was 21. I knew that hanging up wasn’t an option. After awhile he
realized I was serious about training. You cannot listen to people who try
to keep you from your dreams. What if I had taken that first no? That would
have been the end of the story.”
PROBABILITIES AND POSSIBILITIES
In luging, nine out of ten people quit in their first year. These odds would
make most wary, but not Gonzalez. “I got excited. I was going to outlast
everyone. Most people look at their dreams and start calculating the odds of
them ever happening. They can tell you the probabilities and that number
keeps them from even getting started. They don’t understand that probability
has nothing to do with success. Don’t focus on the probabilities, focus on
the possibilities.”
COMMIT TO YOUR GOALS
“In my first two years, I crashed four out of five times. By the third year,
I got better and would crash only one out of 100.” When Gonzalez recently
taught his 6-year-old daughter, Gabriela, how to ride a bike, he saw history
repeat itself. “After the first day she fell. The second day she kept
falling and told me that she didn’t want to do this. But I wouldn’t let her
give up, and by the third day she was able to stay on. Her third day of
learning to ride her bike was like my third year of training. Commitment is
what makes success possible.”
FOCUS ON RESULTS
“Whenever you are trying to accomplish something, don’t worry too much about
how you go about getting results. Focus on whether you are getting results.
If not, change approaches. Be open to new ideas and information. One “ YOU
CANNOT LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO TRY TO KEEP YOU FROM YOUR DREAMS.” new idea
could literally transform your life.” HANDLE SETBACKS “Next time you
experience a major setback, do what top achievers do: recover quickly. Right
away, they force themselves to look at the bright side of things. If you
recover quickly, you don’t lose your momentum and your drive.” How you
choose to react to something can significantly improve your chances of
success.
BUILD A “DREAM TEAM”
“Create your own ‘dream team’ of people who believe in you and who will
encourage you when you are going through challenges. My family’s been 100%
supportive. Mentors who have done what you want to do are necessary as well.
My coach is like the Michael Jordan of luge. Who you surround yourself with
will determine how far you go. When these people believe in you, you will
begin to believe it too.”
To learn more about Coach Ruben Gonzalez visit:
http://www.successmagazine.com/article.php?article_id=78
Call today and make your next event
unforgettable.
To Check Ruben's availability call:
832-689-8282
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