Olympic champions get asked countless times to have their picture taken with people. In this article I’m going to draw a lesson from just such a picture…
click to go to LauraTrott.co.uk
Fast forward to London 2012 and Laura Trott has now won 2 golds for herself!
Here’s another picture of that same young girl with her hero Victoria Pendleton, Team GB colleague of Trott at London.
In all her interviews, Trott comes across with infectious enthusiasm, smiling with disbelief at her double gold.
Born with a collapsed lung, her parents were advised too try to get her into sport to help regulate her breathing. She started with swimming and then took to cycling.
When she found out she was fairly good at it, she took the decision to focus on it, to work hard, and to pick people to look up to. With Wiggins and Pendleton she made fairly decent choices, I’m sure you’ll agree – aren’t these pictures great!
Yes, there will be many youngsters who had their pictures taken with Wiggins or Pendleton over the years. Thousands of them. I’m sure many of those dreamt of being Olympic champions themselves.
Trott has done it though, and naturally her journey includes leaps forwards and steps back. It wasn’t too long ago that she had a bad fall which smashed up her face, and she wasn’t even sure she’d make it to London.
Setting goals, picking a successful people to follow, and putting in the hard work over many years – they aren’t exactly brand new lessons are they?
Well, no they aren’t, but those two pictures could not give a better illustration, and the fact that the lessons aren’t new doesn’t take away their power. Of course the lessons only mean something if you act on them.
Think of someone who has achieved the goal you want. You may not want to seek them out for a photo (although you may find that surprisingly motivating), and they may not be Olympic medallists.
Make a decision though, about where you will be by the time the Rio Olympics arrive in 2016. Maybe take a picture of *yourself* to remind yourself of your 2012 decision. Then take the next step towards it and keep going!
Don’t forget to leave your feedback, and feel free to share, like, tweet etc!
‘Til Next Time,
Health & happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you enjoy my writing, why not grab my motivational book ‘Transform Your Life in 21 Days!’
P.P.S. You might also be interested in my guide ‘Make Money From Sport!’
I love this post. In my view, inspiration is not given the vital priority it ought to have. I think we can also be inspired by these athletes even if our goals are different. Just had to say, I heard Laura being interviewed this morning, and referring to the photo of herself and Bradley, she said that a little girl had just asked to have a photo taken with her and she put her own medal round her neck just the same as Bradley had done for her. So she is already aspiring to inspire others – wonderful!
That’s fantastic that she is already able to give back to others – if she keeps going she may well have 2/3 more Olympics, maybe she’ll have a young team mate who had one of those photos! Cheers, Gordon