EDITORIAL FEATURE
How to Benefit
From Other People’s Success
by Three-time Olympian Ruben Gonzalez
H
ave you ever had a mentor or someone
more experienced than you tell you
something that made no sense? Did you
listen to them or did you try to re-invent
the wheel?
My first time to Lake Placid was in the
spring of 1984; right after watching the Sarajevo Winter Olympics on TV. We trained for a
few weeks on wheels (the wheel training was
done to learn the fundamentals of steering a
luge). Later that year, in the winter of 1984, I
returned to Lake Placid for my first ice training. Luging on ice is completely different from
luging on wheels. On ice there is hardly any
traction, therefore, ice luge is much more unforgiving. It’s like the difference between walking and ice skating.
When you are first learning how to luge
on ice, the coaches have you slide from the
bottom third of the track; where you’re only
traveling at about thirty miles per hour. As
your skill improves, they slowly move you up
the track. It takes about 100 runs before the
coaches will let you slide from the top of the
track.
My goal for my first luge season back in the
winter of 1984 was to be able to luge from the
Men’s Start at the top of the track, by the end
of the season. My goal for my second season,
was to qualify to race in the Lake Placid World
Cup.
My plan for the second season was to spend
all winter in Placid, take as many runs as possible, and see if I could qualify for the race that
was to be held on February 1986.
As soon as I got to Lake Placid my coaches set me straight. They said, “If you stay here
all winter, your progress will be very slow. If
you want to progress fast, you need to be constantly challenged. If you train at any track for
more than two weeks, you’ll get bored. Once
you get bored you stop improving. You need
to train here for two weeks, then two weeks
in each of several tracks in Europe, then come
back to Lake Placid and you’ll be a whole second faster.”
What they were telling me made absolutely
no sense to me. It just didn’t make any sense.
But I’d promised myself that I would humble myself to my coaches’ leadership and not
question them. I had promised myself that I
would take all of their advice on faith. After
all, who was I to question the U.S. Olympic
Coaches?
What they were telling
me made absolutely no
sense to me. It just didn’t
make any sense.
But I’d promised myself
that I would humble
myself to my coaches’
leadership and not
question them. I had
promised myself that
I would take all of their
advice on faith. After all,
who was I to question the
U.S. Olympic Coaches?
That season I trained in Europe. I learned
different things from every track. And when
I returned to Placid I was a full second faster
than before. The people who didn’t listen and
stayed in Lake Placid all season never caught
up.
Thank God I was smart enough to listen to
my coaches. If I had let my pride get in the
way, I might have missed out on competing in
the 1988 Calgary Olympics.
Don’t let pride get in the way of achieving
your goals and dreams. Find a mentor who has
done what you aspire to do and then faithfully
follow their advice. You’ll be glad you did. SBT
Ruben Gonzalez is an award-winning keynote speaker and the author of
the critically acclaimed book, “The Courage to Succeed.” His experiences
as a three-time Olympian and as the owner of two businesses give him
a unique perspective on how to conquer the corporate struggles of today.
For his free 10-Part Success eCourse, visit www.StartWinningMore.com
or contact him at 832-689-8282.
[ SEPTEMBER 2015 ] WWW.SBTMAGAZINE.NET 23