During the FCM Conference on the weekend I had the pleasure of listening to the great Mark Tewksbury deliver an inspirational presentation based on the life lessons he has learned from his experience as an olympic athlete.I especially wanted to hear Mark speak because after his gold medal win in backstroke in the Barcelona Olympic Games, I was part of a committee that brought Mark to speak to our high school students at GDHS. He was a terrific speaker then and he is a terrific speaker now.
I believe that the lessons he was offering are transferable to anyone who wants to achieve anything in life.
His stories about training and mental attitude were particularly applicable. In one case it was the inspiration of the late great Victor Davis who drew together the men's relay team and finally showed Mark how collectively we can achieve much more than we can if we go it alone. None of the members of that men's team had won in their individual events. They were not mentally prepared to do any better in the relay. But Victor Davis gave them the inspiration they needed. When they swam the relay they used each other's strength and individually they did better than they had ever done before. From the disappointment of their previous individual results came the spectacular performances that lead to silver medals for all of them.
The message was to look for help when we want to achieve great goals. Don't be afraid to ask for it or to let others share in the journey. And never give up.
And finally, whatever you are doing, you have to keep doing better. If you think you have done a terrific job and that you should just keep doing it, that may not be the best strategy. While you aren't looking the world is likely moving on.
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