Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez

At the end of a luge run, you talk to your coach on the walkie-talkie, then ride a truck back to the top of the track to do it again. But when we were first learning how to luge, they made us walk up the mountain carrying our sleds.

So, there I was, carrying my sled back up the mountain after my first wheeled luge run ever. Since it was summertime, there were a few tourists watching us train. As I was walking back up the track after my first run, I remember coming face to face with an older man who had just seen me slide down the mountain. Our eyes met and I told him, serious as a heart attack, “I’m going to be in the Olympics in four years.”

He looked at me, paused, and then said, “Son, I think you’re going to make it. I can see the passion in your eyes.”

Can people see the passion in your eyes when you tell them about your plans, dreams and aspirations? The more passionate and enthusiastic you are about your dreams, the more others will believe in you and the more followers you’ll attract. Your passion will breed the conviction you’ll need to turn mediocrity into excellence. Your passion will help you overcome any circumstance and help you become unstoppable.

We all have the capacity to get passionate. Unfortunately most of us keep our enthusiasm bottled up. It’s like emotional constipation.

After all, what if you told someone about your dreams and they laughed at you? Or even worse, what if they didn’t laugh and you didn’t reach your dream? That would not feel good, would it? Who cares? Be enthusiastic anyways. Having small thinkers laugh at you is part of the price of success. Do you want to be mediocre or do you want to be great? To be great is to be misunderstood.

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

When I was learning how to luge, I was placed in the beginner luge class with fourteen other “aspiring Olympians.” We were training in the old bobsled track, a mean concrete track, one half mile long and filled with wicked turns. This was summer training to learn the basics of driving a luge sled.

We trained on wheeled sleds at fifty miles per hour. We wore tennis shoes, shorts, a t-shirt… and a crash helmet (I hate it when they call it that). If you crashed, you went straight to the hospital. That’s the weeding out process in the sport of luge. I guess they want to know right away if you’re serious or not.

The coaches made it difficult on us purposely. They wanted to know right away how bad we wanted it. They didn’t want to waste any time with anyone who was not serious.

There are many facets to success. You have to have a dream – not just any dream; a dream that takes your breath away; a dream that you’re willing to fight for. You have to believe in yourself. You have to take massive action with singleness of purpose. And, finally, you have to have the attitude that you are willing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes. Then, and only then, is success realistic.

Your desire will determine whether you’ll realize your dream because how badly you want it determines what will make you quit. Burning desire allows a person with average ability to successfully compete with those who have far more ability.

Desire allows you to give it everything you’ve got. It helps you reach your full potential. Intense desire allows people to win against overwhelming odds.

If your dream is not an obsession, as soon as you come across obstacles, you’ll quit. As soon as the challenge of reaching your dream becomes an inconvenience, you’ll give up.

Success is not convenient. Trust me. In order to succeed you will need to inconvenience yourself in a big way – for a long time. That’s why it’s so important to be driven, excited, and passionate about your dream. If your “why?” is big enough, the “how” will take care of itself.

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com