Archive for the ‘Olympic Stories’ Category
Saturday, August 19th, 2006
Ildiko Strehli in her “Sled Full of Hope”
A couple of days after finishing my competition at the Salt Lake City Olympics I was sitting in the Olympic Village Coffee Shop drinking my standard four shot expresso. There, I met an incredible lady. Ildiko Strehli of Hungary.
She was in her mid thirties and I was 39, so we both stood out like sore thumbs in amongst the other athletes (The average age for winter Olympians is early twenties, when you walk in the Olympic Village it feels like you’re in a college campus where everybody’s in great shape. I looked so much older than the other athletes that almost every day someone would ask me if I was a coach!).
I asked her what her story was. How she’d gotten to the Olympics. Her story blew me away!
(more…)
Posted in Achievement, Attitude, Cool Friends, Goal Setting, Leadership, Motivational Speaker, Motivational Stories, Olympic Stories, Overcoming Challenges, Purpose, Success, Success Principles | No Comments »
Thursday, August 17th, 2006
Training run in Salt Lake City
There is a simple thing you can start doing right now to help you improve your relationships, your results at work, the quality of your products, and anything else in your life. Something that doesn’t take much time, but saves you huge
amounts of time. That something is asking for feedback from qualified people.
At the end of each luge run, we step off out sled, pull the sled out of the track, wipe the snow and ice from the steel runners so they will not rust, and immediately pick up the walkie-talkie to talk to coach.
(more…)
Posted in Achievement, Attitude, Mentor, Motivational Speaker, Olympic Stories, Peak Performance, Success, Success Principles | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 16th, 2006
Olympic speed skater Dan Jansen
There are two parts of courage that lead to success. The first part is the willingness to begin, to act in faith, to step out boldly in the direction of your goals with no guarantee of success. The second part of courage is the willingness to endure, to persist, to refuse to give up, and to keep on working harder than anyone else.
(more…)
Posted in Achievement, Attitude, Life Skills, Motivation, Motivational Speaker, Motivational Stories, Olympic Stories, Peak Performance, Success, Success Principles | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 16th, 2006
Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson
No matter what your dream is, whether it’s to be the best Dad or the best Mom, the best husband or the best wife, the best employee or the best boss, the best salesperson or the best student you can be, to make it a reality, you will have to have the courage to act in spite of your fears.
(more…)
Posted in Achievement, Attitude, Motivational Speaker, Olympic Stories, Peak Performance, Success, Success Principles | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 16th, 2006
The Old City of Sarajevo…
I’ll never forget it.
We were training for a week in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, an ancient city in Eastern Europe. We had a couple of hours to kill so we visited the old city. The streets in the old city are too narrow for vehicles. The air is filled with smoke because many people still burn wood for heat. And everywhere you look you see towering minarets, a constant reminder that you are now in Eurasia, far from home. When you are walking the cobbled streets of Old Sarajevo, if feels like you have been transported back in time.
(more…)
Posted in Achievement, Attitude, Life Skills, Motivational Speaker, Motivational Stories, Olympic Stories, Overcoming Challenges, Peak Performance, Success, Success Principles | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 16th, 2006
Ruben and Pablo at the Albertville Olympics
Opportunity is everywhere. You have to keep your eyes open and focus on finding it. Once you spot an opportunity, if you decide you are willing to do whatever it takes, it’s only a matter of time before you get what you want.
It was November 1987. We had just arrived at the luge track in St. Moritz, Switzerland. We were about to begin training and qualifying for that weekend’s World Cup Race. The International Luge World Cup Circuit is like a travelling circus. Every week, you see the same group of athletes at a different track. We typically travel on Mondays, train and qualify Tuesday through Friday, and race on the weekend. Then we all travel to the next track. (more…)
Posted in Achievement, Attitude, Cool Friends, Goal Setting, Life Skills, Motivation, Motivational Speaker, Motivational Stories, Olympic Stories, Success, Success Principles | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 16th, 2006
There are many facets to success. You have to have a dream – something you’re shooting for. You have to believe in yourself. You have to take massive action with an attitude that you are willing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes. Then and only then is success realistic.
(more…)
Posted in Achievement, Attitude, Goal Setting, Life Skills, Motivation, Motivational Speaker, Olympic Stories, Peak Performance, Success, Success Principles | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 16th, 2006
The power of the human mind…
Back when I took up the sport of luge, one of my Olympic coaches used to tell me, “Ruben, you’re only six inches away from massive success!” I wasn’t sure what he meant. He explained, “Six inches is the distance between your ears. Your success depends on what you feed your mind.” He was talking about the “Inner Game.” It would be years before I really understood what he meant. Today, I realize that he was 100% right.
You always hear about the mental part of sports being more important than the physical part. I have to admit that I was always a bit skeptical. I was skeptical until a cold morning in October 1998.
(more…)
Posted in Achievement, Goal Setting, Motivational Speaker, Motivational Stories, Olympic Stories, Peak Performance, Success, Success Principles | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 15th, 2006
Olympic shooter Karoly Takacs
Karoly Takacs. You’ve probably never heard of him. However, in Hungary, he’s a national hero - everybody there knows his name and his incredible story. After reading his story, you’ll never forget him…
(more…)
Tags: motivational speaker
Posted in Achievement, Attitude, Life Skills, Motivation, Motivational Speaker, Motivational Stories, Olympic Stories, Overcoming Challenges, Peak Performance, Success, Success Principles | No Comments »
