The Mindset of a Champion: Resilience

I don’t know about you, but I have been enamored by the Olympics and have been watching them as much as possible. What I especially love seeing are the Olympians who have fought through adversity and come back better for it. 

This year the story was Jordyn Wieber of the women’s gymnastics team who missed out on making the all-around final because her score was lower than two other American gymnasts. But two days later she came back with the American team and won gold, only the second time in history that the American women’s team has done that. She led the team out with a vault where she stuck the landing and set the tone for the entire evening.

The other example is Michael Phelps not medaling in his first event, the 400 IM, and then two days later coming out and getting two medals to make Olympic history of 19 overall medals.

What is amazing about these two stories is the resilience that both of these Champions displayed. It is of course talent and hard work, but what really sets them above and beyond I think is their mindset. They were able to control their emotions of their loss, focus on the big picture of their goals, put the past behind them, recognize that they can learn and grow from this process and then hit gold. 

Both of these champions were able to be resilient. They took what could have been catastrophic and turned it around to something amazing. They were able to think about the situation, let go of the pain and sorrow of it quickly by feeling the emotions associated with the process, and then get back to focusing on what they truly wanted.

As a result of their strong mind, they were able to remain confident and pull out incredible wins. That is what I call a true champion and a true leader!

How resilient are you in reaching your goals? What can you learn from these champions in working towards your vision?