15 Life Lessons Learned from Being an Athlete

• by Sarah Hansen

Bulging muscles, swimming miles on a single banana, and running faster than a bullet – figuratively speaking – means that athletes can feel like superheroes during their time of glory.

Yet, being an athlete isn’t that glamorous.

No matter your sport of choice…

Here are 15 lessons learned from athletes to make you a better person in life.

1) Hard work now makes it easier later1

Sprinting uphill is one of the most difficult ways to run. Yet, once you master running hills, everything else feels easy. Hill sprints make you faster. In a race, you won’t be intimidated by these tug-of-war sessions against gravity, because you eat them for breakfast.

Any athlete will tell you that there is no way around hard work. If you skimp on your workouts, you cheat yourself on race day.

Focused efforts in any area will give you future life rewards. Those with a strong work ethic often succeed where others fail. So learn to appreciate that sweat equity!1

2) Performance isn’t dependent on outside forces, but inside perseverance

When you train in the elements, Mother Nature is going to throw you a curve ball. You may have sweltering heat, freezing temperatures or pounding rain. I’ve had some of my best runs in some of the worst weather.

Top athletes learn to embrace the hardships to test their limits. Image what you could do if you saw every challenge as an opportunity to conquer something weak within yourself! You would start to seek out tougher battles instead of shrink from them. With every tested run, you gain confidence in your body’s ability to perform.

The secret is the true challenge isn’t about what you face on the outside. It’s about what you think inside that will determine if you’re workout is going to rock your world or defeat you.

Life also throws us unpleasant circumstances. To become successful, you can’t run away when situations get hard. If you keep your inner fire fueled with positivity and focused determination, you will weather any storm and become better for it.

3) Limitations are only as real as you make them

If you reject your limitations, you will find that your body can give you more than you ever thought possible. A few years ago, I never thought I could run a marathon. Yet, training one step at a time showed me that my legs had more to give than I ever imagined.

Athletes also use visualization techniques before they compete to blow away limiting thoughts. Instead of focusing on failures, they see themselves succeeding. What they believe, they then achieve.

No matter what, don’t put yourself into a category. You may think you will never be as fast or as strong as others, but give it time. Learn to reject the limits life has taught you and dream bigger. Start to see yourself as your ideal inner athlete. Soon, they will be staring back at you from the mirror.

4) Setbacks happen, but defeat is a choice

I’ve had a few pretty tough setbacks in my athletic career. Health problems put a stop to my running for several years. It’s tough starting back from ground zero. Slogging along on a slow run or bike workout when you’re used to flying is one of the hardest mental battles. I was tempted to give up. The mountain seemed too high to become the person I used to be.

However, the misery of not being the best version of myself continued to push me back to my workouts. Once you have tasted the endorphin-drenched happiness of smashing through your previous PR, you can’t go back to a leisurely life without the longing always tickling the back of your consciousness.

In life, setbacks will also happen. You may lose your job, face a health crisis or find yourself settling instead of living your deeper dreams. These bumps in the road will only defeat you if you let them. Choose to keep going, and you will never experience failure.

5) Don’t be a hermit

I grew up as an only child. I’m naturally pretty independent. Yet, I’ve learned to let other people into my workouts. I need people to push me, give me feedback and hold me accountable. I value coaches and their input into my training. I’ve learned that other athletes make me better.

In life, we often need an outside perspective as well. Many times, we are too close to the goal. It’s important to be open to what other successful coaches can teach you and not resist sound advice. A little humility and a listening ear go a long way toward making you better in any discipline.

6) Big dreams need focused plans

Most athletes don’t randomly work out. They know that strategic workouts equal better results. They have a plan to target weak areas and improve on strengths.

If you have a big life goal, like starting a business, paying off debt or bringing a new idea to life, you have to put a plan in place to ensure success. Think about it like climbing a mountain. Plan for each little step of the journey. Eventually, you’ve met your goal and are enjoying the view. No one gets to the top of any mountain in one big jump – unless they’re superman.

7) Run from the stagnant life

You can never stay the same. You are either moving toward your goals or away from them. Every choice pushes you either forward or backward. If you stop working out, your body slowly melts back to couch-potato status. If you crush that hard workout, you are one step closer to reaching your next PR.

If you notice that you are simply gliding along wherever the current takes you in life, it’s time to wake up. Anyone can go with the flow. Even dead fish move with the current. Every choice to do nothing is a step closer to dead-fish status. The tough fish swim against the current and go places others never dreamed!

8) Comfort is sweeter when earned

There is nothing better than letting the hot water of a shower wash away the grime from a long run, slipping into you comfiest pajamas and sliding into bed for the night after a hard workout. You will sleep so much sweeter because you earned your rest.

Did you know that 70% of lottery winners lose all their money within seven years? They didn’t earn that money, and they don’t know how to manage their winnings effectively. They didn’t go through the lessons or the pain to achieve all of those comforts; so they blow it all.

You will find that success tastes much sweeter when you get there on your own. Don’t go through life looking for handouts. You have everything necessary to win your own battles. Your success is 100% within your own control.

9) Embrace change

Most athletes change their workouts to make sure their body doesn’t get too comfortable with routine. When the body learns to adapt, it can slow progress. When you get too comfortable, changing your pace can make you stronger.

Change is inevitable in life. Many people resist it. However, those who adapt and embrace new possibilities find happiness.

10) Seek progress over perfection

Everyone has their own journey. Too many times, I got frustrated that someone else was farther along the path. I would look to that magic moment when I could run a mile in a certain time.

Now, my goals have changed. I no longer want to be better than others; I want to be better than the person I used to be yesterday. When you are always looking to the distant future, you have an unpleasant present. Don’t get so caught up in the person you want to be someday that you don’t appreciate where you are now.

So many people live life in the future tense. They believe that when they achieve goal “X” they will be happy. That’s a hard way to go through life. Learn to be happy during the process – not only at the end of it.

11) Not all pain is bad, but don’t forget to listen

An athlete understands that there are two kinds of pain. There is the pain of soreness, showing that you’ve torn down your muscles to build them back stronger. There is also the pain of injury and over training.

Smart athletes walk the fine line between pushing their body to the limit and pulling back when they know they’re dancing with disaster. After all, taking time off training to nurse a torn ligament or sprained ankle is going to set you back a lot more than taking a necessary rest day.

You’d be surprised how many people recklessly grind themselves into the ground in their jobs, lives and relationships. Steven Covey talks about taking time to sharpen the saw. You can’t cut down a forest with a blunt blade, and you can’t achieve success when you’re too exhausted to think straight. If life is running you instead of the other way around, start taking control. However, don’t shy away from hard work either. Find that balance.

12) Learn to forgive yourself

There will be times when you finish a race and you know you didn’t leave it all out on the course; times when you know you could have worked out harder; times when you get lazy.

When you start back, you can get frustrated by your past actions that led you to this painful point. This is wasted energy. No matter how far you’ve fallen, you can get back to your glory days. It may take longer if weeks of lethargy have turned into years, but you can always begin fresh again.

You also can’t live a life full of regret. Everyone messes up. While we may wish we had a time capsule that allowed us to redo some of our choices, it isn’t healthy to remain stuck in the past. Learn from your mistakes. Don’t repeat them, but don’t reenact them in a tortuous cycle either. Learn to forgive yourself and move on.

13) Surround yourself with successful

The best way to get better in any athletic discipline is to work out with stronger athletes. Successful competitors seek out others who can bring up their game. While it may be uncomfortable and humbling to have others leave you behind, it will make you better.

You should also try to surround yourself with winners at the game of life. Some people feel uncomfortable if they aren’t the richest, strongest or most intelligent person in the room. They also thrive on bringing others down to feel more secure. This isn’t the way to grow; it’s the path to atrophy. Always make sure those closest to you inspire you to become better by their example.

14) Recognize your excuses and crush them

I didn’t run a marathon until my early thirties. I did it when I saw people twice my age running multiple marathons per year. My excuse used to be that I was too old or too busy. After watching others defeat these ideas, I realized these excuses were a smoke screen to cover up my fear of failure.

Learn to recognize your defenses for defeatism. When you discover your underlying fears and address them, you can eliminate your excuses. If you truly want to do something, you will find a way while everyone else keeps a white-knuckled death gripe on the reasons why they can’t.

15) Live outside of your comfort zone

All athletes know true change only comes through challenge; and you won’t be challenged living in your comfort zone. Top athletes sign up for races that scare them silly. They know if they sit back, they will soon be on the sidelines.

Doing anything legendary takes risk. All of the biggest inventions, companies and success stories started when someone stepped away from routine to become revolutionary. So don’t wait another minute. Find something that terrifies and inspires you – and then go do it!

Read more: http://www.keepinspiring.me/lessons-from-athletes/#ixzz47ToYZfxM

Feeling down? Confused? Not sure what to do with your life? These commencement speeches may have the answers you’re looking for.

If not that, at least it will inspire and motivate you to bounce back in life.

Here are 7 motivational speeches to inspire you and change your life:

1. David Foster Wallace, 2005 Kenyon Graduation Speech12

“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”

In this commencement address, Wallace reminds us that we often forget, or take for granted, the most obvious things around us. He acknowledges it’s difficult to stay aware of what’s happening in the world, especially when you’re too busy dealing with the monologue inside your head.

That’s what a college education is about, according to him. It’s learning how to think, exercising some degree of control over your thoughts so you can choose what to pay attention to.

Our thoughts affect our realities, and the ability to choose how you “construct meaning from experience” will determine the lenses from which you see the world and how you react in return.

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2. Ellen DeGeneres, 2009 Tulane University

“Never follow anyone else’s path, unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path and by all means you should follow that. Don’t give advice, it will come back and bite you in the ass. Don’t take anyone’s advice. So my advice to you is to be true to yourself and everything will be fine.”

This is one of the funniest graduation speeches ever! All humor aside, this speech shows why it’s better to be true to yourself, instead of trying desperately to be a second-rate version of someone else.

For years, Ellen thought being bisexual might prevent her from being a successful stand-up comedian but it’s just not the case. Ellen proved that you can be successful, whoever you are, if you worked hard and learn from your past experiences— even one as sad as the death of a loved one.

3. Charlie Munger, 2007 University of California Law School

*Skip to 4:08 for the actual speech

“You’re not going to get very far in life based on what you already know. You’re going to advance in life by what you’re going to learn after you leave here.”

Education doesn’t stop after you graduate from college. It doesn’t stop after you finish your MBA or PhD either. Munger says, “Wisdom acquisition is a moral duty. It’s not just something you do to advance in life.”

It’s a moral duty because it’s only through continuous learning that we can add to the vast knowledge of man kind. If we stopped learning, progress in all industries—computers, finance, engineering, biology, stops as well.

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4. Michelle Obama, 2013 Eastern Kentucky University

“If you’re a Democrat, spend some time talking to a Republican. And if you’re a Republican, have a chat with a Democrat. Maybe you’ll find some common ground, maybe you won’t. But if you honestly engage with an open mind and an open heart, I guarantee you’ll learn something. And goodness knows we need more of that, because we know what happens when we only talk to people who think like we do — we just get more stuck in our ways, more divided, and it gets harder to come together for a common purpose. ”

As far as inspirational speeches go, Michelle Obama’s speech is very actionable. Her advice is simple (not easy), talk to each other with an open mind.

Different religion, race, political stand, it doesn’t matter. We can all learn from one another.

5. Jim Carrey, 2014 Maharashi University of Management

This is one of my favorite motivational speeches because Jim Carrey is such a good example of his message.

“So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality. My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him, and so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an account.”
Carrey’s father lost his accounting job when he was 12, and it was then he realized that failure is inevitable, whether you’re doing what you want or not. If that’s the case, you might as well take a stab at doing something you love.

6. J.K Rowling, 2008 Harvard Commencement Address3

“I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea.”

For writers and creatives everywhere, this is probably one of the most inspirational videos there is.

Rowling was suffering from depression when he wrote the Harry Potter books. But through grit and patience with herself, she was able to complete the first Harry Potter Manuscript and in doing so escape the clutches of depression.

Thanks to her, the world has Harry Potter.

7.Bono, 2004 University of Pennsylvania

In case you don’t know him, Bono is the lead singer of the famous band U2.

Of course, being the rock star that he is, he leads his speech by saying, “My name is Bono, and I am a rock star”

Being a rock star, I thought Bono would talk about the perils of fame, the road to stardom or something to that effect. But instead, he talked about big ideas and changing the world.

In his speech, he urges graduates to carefully consider their big idea. “What are you willing to spend your moral capital, your intellectual capital, your cash, (and) your sweat equity in pursuing outside of the walls of the University of Pennsylvania? The world is more malleable than you think and it’s waiting for you to hammer it into shape,” he said.

Read more: http://www.keepinspiring.me/7-motivational-graduation-speeches-that-will-inspire-you/#ixzz47TnunCYa

17 Ways To Motivate Yourself To Do Great Things

Sometimes, no matter how experienced we are or how much we have accomplished, we all can use a little help to keep going, a bit of motivation if you will.

In the face of the inevitable obstacles we are going to encounter, here are ideas that have worked for me, my friends who run both entrepreneurial and micro businesses, and others I talked to.

At the end of this post, I am going to ask you to tell me what motivational techniques have worked for you–just click the “comment button; if I get enough good ideas I will do a subsequent blog crediting you, of course–but first the list.

Some of these will resonate with you.

1. Necessity.  A lot of my friends are incredibly literal. When asked what keeps them going, they point to the mortgage that has to be paid or an elderly parent’s medical bills they are responsible for.  Says one, “John Wayne got it right. ‘A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.’  And that applies to women, too.” (I have to admit I could relate to this response.  At one point, three of my kids were attending private colleges simultaneously. During that period, I took to saying “I can’t afford either writer’s block or sloth.”)

2. Quotes. Inspirational quotes were cited by many, but how they used them were as unique as they are.  Some literally had a wall or white board filled with quotes they had discovered through the years, while others took to putting a particular favorite (such as “just keep swimming,” from the kids’ movie Finding Nemo, taped to their monitor or they used a favorite quote as a screensaver. For a great list of quotes, see my Forbes colleague Kevin Kruse’s recommendations.

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3. Employees are relying on you.  This is related to the necessity argument. An extremely high number of entrepreneurs I talked to mentioned all the people who could be potentially out of work, if the entrepreneur did less than their absolute best and their company suffered. Feeling responsible for their employees’ economic future kept them going.

4. Personal pride.  It was hard to get people to admit to this one until they had a second (or third) glass of wine.  But although they rarely talk about it publically, many entrepreneurs are extremely proud of what they had accomplished and take (usually quiet) satisfaction in keep the enterprise going no matter what problems arise.

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5.  A mission to change the world. Not everyone was evocative as Steve Jobs (who used to tell Apple employees ”we are going to make insanely great products”) but a significant number of the entrepreneurs and business people I talked to truly believe their offerings will make the world a better place.  It is the deeply help belief in that mission that keeps them going.

6. Support groups. This provides benefits in one of two ways (and it was possible for one group to supply both.) Either the entrepreneur met periodically with other entrepreneurs who could offer words of encouragment and advice when they were stuck, or even if they didn’t ask for advice, simply being associated with other successful people made the entrepreneur work harder. He didn’t want to fall behind his peers.

7.  They have a chip on their shoulder.  More people than I would have thought say they keep going no matter what to prove to all the people “who told me I would never be successful, that they were wrong.” Intriguingly, that chip didn’t go away once they were successful.

8. Consider the alternative.  This one, too, took two forms.  To keep themselves going, some entrepreneurs either thought back to the days before they started their companies and recalled how unhappy they were working for someone else. Or they pictured what it would be like to once again have a boss.  Either image, they said, was enough to keep them plugging away.

9. A legacy.  Knowing that their company may be the only real thing they are remembered for, or hoping that their kids will take over the business someday, keeps many entrepreneurs going, when times get tough or they simply get tired.

10. Create Momentum.  This one was cited by just about everyone I talked to.  Goals like: $1 million in sales within the first year can sound awfully daunting from a standing start, i.e. you are beginning with no revenues.  But, if you say, “let’s get $83,333.33 coming in this month; and $83,333 next month,” the numbers don’t seem as big, and you get a chance to celebrate 12 small wins, as well as the one big one, when you hit $1 million in sales.

11. Get a Diagnosis. Here’s how one entrepreneur described this one for me.  “You know when you are physically feeling lousy and know it is more than a cold or the flu, but you don’t know what it is? Simply not knowing is worrisome. Once you get a diagnosis—even if it something bad like pneumonia—you actually feel better because you know what it is and what you are up against  It is the same for me in my business. If I feel bad but I get a friend—or even a shrink—to tell me what is going on, I feel better once I have a name for it.  That, in and of itself, is enough for me to come up with a battleplan to keep going.”

12. Visualization. This one has never worked for me, although several of the people I talked to swear by it. They say focusing on what success will ultimately look like keeps them going.  I worry that having fixed image of success could keep you from pursuing other opportunities that you could encounter on the way, but I am including this one here because it seems to work for so many.

13.   Exercise. Think. Sometimes being tired, depressed and wrung out is “simply” a matter of over-work or being out of shape (or both.)  Taking a break—at regular points–could be enough to keep you going.  And at the very least, if you get into shape you will have more energy—even if your exercise program doesn’t do a darn thing to improve your company’s  performance.