Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez

At the age of 21 he failed in business.
At the age of 22 he lost a race for State Legislature.
At the age of 23 he failed at his second business.
At the age of 25 his girlfriend died.
At the age of 26 he suffered a nervous breakdown.
At the age of 28 he lost a race for Congress.
At the age of 30 he lost another race.
At the age of 33 he lost yet another race.
At the age of 38 he lost a race for Congress.
At the age of 45 he was defeated for Senate.
At the age of 46 he was defeated for Vice President.
At the age of 49 he was defeated for Senate.
At the age of 50 he was elected President of the United States.

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Wilma Rudolph and her Gold Medals…

After getting double pneumonia and scarlet fever, the doctors said she’d never walk again. Wilma’s mother refused to believe the doctors.  

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Hershel Walker and I at the Olympics 

I got to meet Hershel Walker back in 1992 at the Albertville Winter Olympics. I was competing in the luge and Hershel was competing in the bobsled. Back then Hershel was playing football for the Washington Generals.

Hershel tells a story about the only two things you ever need to worry about in life…

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It’s Not Just About Sales Goals by Michelle Nichols  

Feeling stuck? Batteries low? Need a motivational shot in the arm? Try setting a Big Hairy Goal for yourself!

You probably have plenty of sales goals, but do you have a Big Hairy Goal? Every salesperson should. A BHG is a goal that is so far from where you are in your career now that you will have to push yourself incredibly hard to achieve it. You’ll know you’ve created a real BHG because it will inspire you and get your creative juices flowing. The downside is that you can’t reach it quickly. It will take months or years of struggling before you can declare to the world, “I did it!”

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Martin Kove, the evil Sensei from “The Karate Kid” 

I was just in Cancun speaking for Evolution International, a fitness and wellness company. One of the other presenters was Martin Kove, the actor who playyed the evil Sensei theat ran the militant dojo in the movie “The Karate Kid.” Martin was telling me that even 20 years later, The Karate Kid is still the number one summer youth film.

Martin still directs and acts in movies, in fact he’s involved in a dozen projects this year alone. One special thing Martin is working on is in fighting bullies in middle schools across America through his organization Bully Safe USA. He does presentations in schools where he uses clips from The Karate Kid to show kids the harmful effects of bulling.

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People in skid row have something in common. They all had a major challenge that made them quit on life and they are eager to tell you all about the situation that conquered them. They are constantly feeding their fear.

Successful people react differently when they get knocked down. They bounce back up, learn their lesson, forget the situation that knocked them down, and move forward.

“It’s not what happens to you. It’s how you handle it.”

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

Jonathan Edwards at Salt Lake City Olympic Opening Ceremonies

There are several definitions of character.  One definition is how you act when no one is looking at you. Another definition of character is: how do you treat people who could not possibly help you in any way?

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Gabriela, the proud new bike rider

Last week as I was teaching my 6-year-old daughter Gabriela how to ride a bike, I realized that Gabriela was going through all the challenges and emotions I went through when learning how to luge.

She was going through all the emotions ANYONE goes through when they are learning something new… hope, fear, trepidation, self-doubt, and finally exhileration and pride that comes from pushing yourself and accomplishing something you never did before. 

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The more you fail, the greater the chance that you will ultimately succeed. You can actually fail yourself to success. Because every time you fail, you gain experience. In my case, I crashed my way to the top. For two years I crashed in four out of every five luge runs. But I learned something from every crash. Then, on my third year, all of my luge knowledge miraculously came together, and I hardly ever crashed anymore.

“I am not discouraged, because ever wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

- Thomas Edison

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

Alexander Cushing - 1913 - 2006, Founder of Squaw Valley Ski Resort

I just got back from Reno, Nevada where Zig Ziglar and I got to speak for a terrific audience of about 4000 people at a Get Motivated Seminar. By the way, for more information on the Get Motivated Seminar or to order tickets for a future event, call Get Motivated Seminars at 1-800-431-8306.

While in Reno, I got to spend some time with my good friend Michelle Nichols, Sales Columnist for Business Week. Michelle graciously drove me around Reno, and Lake Tahoe. Then she took me over to Squaw Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics.

The story of how Squaw Valley was awarded the Winter Olympics shows the power of a single person with a huge dream and the willingness to take quick and massive action while ignoring nay-sayers.

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