Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez

Running with the Bulls in Pamplona

We stood for hours in the plaza trying to stay warm in the chilly Pyrenees Mountain morning. About 3000 of us. People of all ages from all over the world drawn to Pamplona by the mystique of running with the bulls.

You could feel the tension rise as the time got closer to 8:00 AM, the time when six bulls and several steers would be released to run through the cobblestoned streets of Pamplona. The half mile course is only 15 to 20 feet wide. There is no place to escape and since bulls can run much faster than people, in time, everyone will be overtaken by the bulls.

The bull run only takes about 3-4 minutes. The most dangerous and exhilerating three minutes of your life.

There are always injuries. So many injuries that there are emergency medical crews and ambulances every 50 yards. Someone will be hurt today. Occasionally someone will lose their life. In 1995 a 22 year old American was gored to death less than 30 seconds after the beginning of the run. His first…

What drives people to risk their lives running with the bulls? Some say you feel most alive when you are nearest death. Others run for the challenge. Personally, I just think it’s fun, exciting, and exhilerating.

Before going to Pamplona I took the same approach I take with everything. I seeked knowledge from the experts. I read three books about Pamplona - several times. I contacted one of the authors - a man who’s been running for 30 years, to pick his brain. Then, I spent many hours watching videos of the bull run to study the paths different runners took as they ran.

At first, the videos just looked to me like a horde of people running for their lives. After watching the videos over and over again, I started to see well defined patterns. All of a sudden, the things I had read about in the books started to make sense. I realized that there is a right way and a wrong way to run with the bulls.

I did my homework and that made all the difference.

What did I learn from all my study? I learned a handful of insights that drastically reduced my risk and turned a potentially deadly adventure into a science. Into a strategic challenge.

 Just like in business and in life, you find two types of people in the bull run. There are the amateurs who show up, wing it, and often get hurt. And there are the professionals. The experts who armed with knowledge and skill rarely get hurt.

 95% of the people are amateurs. 5% are the pros. The experts. The winners. Just like in business. Just like in life.

What did I learn from my research? I learned simple things that made a huge difference in my Pamplona experience.

First and most importantly, make sure to run sober and watch out for the drunks. There were lots of them out there. The drunks are more dangerous and more unpredictable than the bulls. The drunks trip, fall and cause human pileups that you have to hurdle as you run down the street.

Secondly, if you fall, cover your head and stay down. The bulls will jump over you. If you get up, you become a big target and you could easily get hurt.

Thirdly, tie your sash in a slip knot. Everyone in Pamplona dresses the same way during the Fiesta. White shirt, white pants, red bandana around the neck, and a red sash around the waist. If you tie your sash in a double knot (like 95% of the amateurs did) and a bull’s horn hooks your sash, the bull will drag you along the streets with your head bouncing off the cobblestones the whole way. Not the best way to spend your time in Spain.

Like I said, simple stuff that can make a huge difference.

Finally, where do you run?

The half mile course has five sections. Most deaths have occurred at the beginning and at the end. Most injuries and gorings occur at a sharp right hand curve in the middle of the course. Stay away from those three areas unless you have been running for many years.

The whole time you are running you are deep in a narrow canyon made up of 10 story buildings on either side of the narrow streets. You are in the shade the whole time except right before you enter “Dead Man’s Curve” or “La Curva” as it is known in Pamplona. Right before “La Curva” you are blinded by the early morning sun. The bulls are blinded as well and they slip on the moist cobblestones and slam into the retaining wall at the far side of the curve. Many injuries occur here when the runners get pinned by the falling bulls.

The experts told us to begin the run about 50 yards past “La Curva” on the right side of the street. Why? Because the bulls tend to run on the left side of the street after passing “La Curva.” By starting the run from the right side, you have a chance to gradually approach the bulls as you run down the long straightaway past the curve.

The top runners position themselves in the middle of the street and try to run right in front of the bulls’ horns for as long as they can before they are overtaken. We were happy to run beside the bulls. Close but not too close.

There is a bull run every morning for the 8 days of the Fiesta. I was there three days. I watched the first day and ran the second and the third. I’m still a beginner at this. Like everything else, practice makes perfect. I think it will take at least 2-3 years of running all 8 days to learn the basics. And then a lifetime to master the basics.

So what does all of this have to so with success? Everything! Whenever you are about to try anything new, something that looks too hard and too risky to be worthwhile, do what high achievers everywhere do. Don’t try to figure it out on your own. You don’t know what you don’t know and what you don’t know can hurt you.

Rather, find the experts. Learn from the best. Then give yourself a couple of years to learn the basic skills by taking consistent and persistent action. By doing that, in time you will become the expert others turn to for advice. By pursuing excellence in everything you do you will make your life a masterpiece.

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speakers

Whether you play tennis or not, you might want to pick up a copy of “The Inner Game of Tennis.” It is filled with great tips anyone can use to be more productive.

Here’s a quote from Timothy Gallwey’s book:

“The player of the inner gamecomes to value the art of relaxed concentrationabove all other skills; he discovers a true basis for self-confidence; and he learns that the secret to winning any game lies in not trying too hard.

He aims at the kind of spontaneous performance which occurs only when the mind is calm and seems at one with the body, which finds its own surprising ways to surpass its own limits again and again.”

Sounds like what my coach tells me after every luge run: “Ruben, you must relax. Be one with the sled.”

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all-the-time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Wining is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing…”

“It’s a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That’s why they’re there - to compete. They know the rules and the objectives when they get in the game. The objective is to win - fairly, squarely, decently, by the rules - but to win.”

“And in truth, I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline. there is something in good men that really yearns for, needs, discipline and the harsh reality of head-to-head combat.”

“I don’t say these things because I believe in the ‘brute’ nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.”

- Vince Lombardi

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?”

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It is not jus in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

by Marianne Williamson

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

My new book “Becoming Unstoppable” is finally finished. It was just featured in FOX Business Channel in the Dave Ramsey show.

“Becoming Unstoppable” is regularly $19.95 but for a limited time you can get an autographed copy right here.

“Read this book, apply its
timeless principles,
and you’ll achieve more
than ever before.”

Howard Putnam
Former CEO Southwest Airlines

“This book is a must read.”

Don Green
Executive Director of the
Napoleon Hill Foundation

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

I just picked up a terrific book on leadership.

“Robert E. Lee on Leadership” by H.W. Crocker III

I’ve lived in Texas for 30 years and didn’t know anything about Robert E. Lee. He’s revered in the South and now I’m starting to see why. These are just a few nuggets from the first chapter. You’ll have to get the book (only 231 pages long which is nothing for a book about Lee) if you want to get the rest.

• Lee was a realist. He knew life was tough and you had to be tougher.
• As a realist, he had a clear view of the world and he knew what he wanted to accomplish (indispensable in a leader).
• As a realist, he knew it takes many failures to get to a success so he was never crushed by setbacks. He didn’t waste time whining about failures or blaming others.
• He believed that you need to do the best you can with the hand you are dealt. Always take advantage of opportunities.
• You have to need to lead yourself before you can lead others.
• The mother of a baby asked him what would be the best advice to give her son. Lee told her, “Teach him he must deny himself.” In other words, delay immediate gratification as you pursue long term goals.
• You must have people’s respect if you will be their leader. Vices do not lead to respect. That is why character is so important.
• The great duty in life is to deny yourself as you work for the happiness of others. The business equivalent is to focus on your employees and your customers and business will take care of itself.
• Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. Don’t do it in expectation of reward. The reward is the satisfaction that comes from doing the right thing.

In 1860, most people in the North worked in factories. They were “company people.” The Southerners were farmers - independent businessmen who were rugged individualists. When South Carolina secceded in December 1960 (because of tarrifs that hurt its free trade), followed by Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida and Texas three months later, President Lincoln ordered Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas to provide troops to suppress the rebellious states of the deep South.

Lee was offered command of the new army being formed to take action against the South. He was being offered America’s highest command with all the prestige and reward that came with it. Lee declined because even though he believed in the Union, and even though he had a feeling of loyalty and duty as an American citizen, he would not raise his hand against his relatives, his children and his home.

He said, “I shall return to my native state and share the miseries of my people. Virginia is my country. Her I will obey, however lamentable the fate to which it may subject me.”

• Lee believed that it is better to suffer evil than to commit it.
• He believed that by following his conscience, by doing what he though was right, he guaranteed himself the serene self-confidence that is necessary in a leader.
• By doing what is right, even the worst outcomes will somehow will turn out right.
• Look after your people, do what is right, fulfill your duty to the best of your abilities, and leave the results to God.

That’s just chapter one!

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

Greg Reid and I in Ruthless Competition…

I’ve always been a good ping-pong player. But I wanted to take my game to the next level because I wanted to beat a friend of mine who beat me regularly - Greg Reid.

I decided to get some coaching from a lady that is in the Vietnamese National Ping-Pong team.

In the first 10 minutes she gave me two tips that made a huge difference in my game.

One of them was changing my stance by only 6 inches and the other was changing the position of the tip of my index finger by one inch!

Believe it or not, those two small changes made a huge difference in my game.

I’ll be taking lessons from this Coach for the next year. Imagine what a difference that will make! Greg’s going to have to get a coach or he will be toast! I know he will because he knows what it takes to be your best.

If a little coaching could make such a big difference in my ping-pong game, imagine what a difference it can make in your professional life.

You have no idea how good you can be!

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

Average people avoid risk. Successful people learn to manage risk. Managing risk is not that hard. All you do is ask yourself three questions:

What’s the best thing that could happen if I go for it?

 

What’s the worst thing that could happen if I go for it?

What’s likely to happen if I go for it?

If you are most likely to succeed by taking action and if you can handle the worst thing that could happen, go for it. Because if that is the case, the risk is worth the reward.

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

In the spirit of our new movie “Pass It On,” I’ve just written a book about what it really takes to succeed big in life and I’m giving away the eBook version to everyone who wants to take advantage of this information.

You can download your personal copy of “Becoming Unstoppable” by clicking here…

The print version of “Becoming Unstoppable” will be available this fall.

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.  I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, ‘Hi handsome. My name is Rose.   I’m eighty-seven years old.  Can I give you a hug?’

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, ‘Of course you may!’ and she gave me a giant squeeze.

‘Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?’ I asked.

She jokingly replied, ‘I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…’

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