For far too long it has been conventional thinking that in order to end up with a Silver Medal, you had to lose the Gold. Fair enough, I get that. Given how often winning is the main goal of so many athletes, teams and coaches, I can understand why it has hung on as the rulebook for what and how we celebrate. Truth be told, for my entire athletic career, winning was the ultimate goal of everything that I did. But, not so much because I loved winning—nope, because I hated, and I mean hated losing. I saw losing as wrong, unacceptable and definitely not worth celebrating.
Today, however, I watched with complete envy as the Canadian men’s eight not only came second in what will be remembered as one of the best Olympic Men’s Eight Finals ever, but then celebrated their incredible accomplishment as if they had won Gold. To be completely honest, I was brought to tears watching those young men give every ounce of everything that they had to get their boat across the line just shy of the Germans, but ahead of the Brits and the other competitors. It was a beautiful race—a beautiful moment.
Our Canadian men’s result today was exciting to be sure, but what I found even more exciting was knowing that young athletes across Canada were seeing first hand how to not only win a Silver Medal, but perhaps more importantly, how to savour, celebrate and cherish such a worthy accomplishment.
Congratulations, boys, I trust you inspired some future Olympians today—very cool.
Jason Dorland is a High-Perfomance Coach who believes the most undervalued and underutilized components of reaching our goals are the mental and emotional areas of our lives. With your commitment, Jason can help you make a positive difference in how you approach your life’s dreams and goals. Guaranteed! To find out how, contact Jason today for a free no obligation consultation. He looks forward to meeting with you and getting started soon!
