Tag: confidence (page 5 of 8)

August 11, 2024

Sprint Champion: What it takes to be at the Top

Usain Bolt is arguably the greatest Sprint Champion of all time and inspired a lot of people to keep watching the Olympics.

As a sports lover and Bolt fan, I watched the just concluded Olympics in Paris, France.

There were so many competitions to watch and follow, but I keenly followed the races and sprinters of the 100 meters Athletics with so much interest compared to the others.

I watched the finals of both Men and Women races and there were interesting results that determined the new Sprint Champions.

The Women’s 100 Meters Dash

In the Women’s 100m, there were 2 clear favorites to win the gold medal before the event began.

The first favorite was Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who was already a two-time Olympic champion and easily qualified for the semifinals of the competition.

Yet, before the semifinals, Olympics officials said Shelly-Ann had suffered an undisclosed injury and won’t be able to run or qualify for the final race

This meant the second favorite – Sha’Carri Richardson now had a golden opportunity (pun intended) to win the competition.

Surprisingly, Sha’Carri the American world champion took second both in the semifinal and the final. She lost the gold to a sprinter from the small island of St. Lucia.

The champion’s name was Julien Alfred.

During the post-race press conference, Julien said something which got my attention.

“This morning I woke up and wrote it down, ‘Julien Alfred, Olympic champion.’ So I think believing in myself really was important.”

The new Women’s Sprint Champion – Julien Alfred

The Men’s 100 Meters Dash

For the Men’s edition, there was only one name in the lips of everybody following the competition.

Noah Lyles.

His on-track performances are good. His off-track flair and charisma were better.

Before the event, a lot of people were annoyed by Noah’s playful behavior. His constant showboating irritated others. He also engaged in brash trash talk and these actions fueled the growing resentment.

Noah Lyles sees himself as the new superstar of men’s athletics and he never fails to say this to any interviewer or fellow athletes.

Because of this, some people wanted him to lose this 100m final. After all, Noah is prideful, and pride always goes before a fall.

Others wanted Noah to win. Since he has always backed up in the talk in the past. To these people, Noah is the new Bolt. The future Sprint Champion.

The Men’s 100m sprint final came, and it was the tightest 100m final in global racing history — not just at the Olympics, but anywhere.

When the race began, Lyles was in last place after 40 meters. But after 90 meters he picked up speed and trailed the first person by .01 seconds.

Noah Lyles crossed the finish line just five thousandths of a second ahead of Thompson, who posted a time of 9.789.

Like Julien, the new Olympic champion for men’s 100m sprint also said something that confirmed their winning mentality.

“America, I told you; I got this,” Noah Lyles shouted in celebration after the race results were confirmed.

The new Men’s Sprint Champion – Noah Lyles

What does it take to be at the Top?

The quest for Olympic gold is one of the greatest dramas in all of sports.

It all boils down to this one fleeting moment after a lifetime of hard work, perseverance, tears, high fives, and early morning alarm clocks.

When milliseconds, meters and muscle matter most, there is no margin for error.

Aside from genetics, there are many things that we can learn from Olympians to help us reach our own personal best at work and play.

Being an Olympian is a full-time job. The job description is basically train, eat, sleep, repeat.

In addition to all this, I believe this was how Noah and Julien did it.

Confidence. Confidence. Confidence.

This is a feeling of self-assurance and belief in your abilities. Confidence is trust in yourself and your qualities or skills.

Being confident is the state of being certain about something.

It’s important to note that confidence is different from arrogance.

Healthy confidence involves a realistic assessment of your abilities, while also acknowledging areas for improvement.

The Sprint Champion vs Other Runners

You are one or the other.

But I’m not asking you to hate the champions.

Oh no. Learn from them.

After all, life is a race. These sprint champions – Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred are simply running theirs. Literally and metaphorically.

The other runners had to simply cheer and count their losses afterwards.

Now I’m asking you to be a champion yourself by trusting in yourself and your abilities.

Leave the other runners.

Become a champion.

Then maybe you too will be the top of your field… and the other runners will celebrate you as the Gold Medalist.

July 28, 2024

Tai Lung: Never Crumble When Things Fail

Tai Lung is a complex villain in a simple story.

The wisest lessons can come from the simplest stories. In 2008, DreamWorks produced a timeless movie, “Kung Fu Panda,” which highlights the dreams of a clumsy giant panda named Po, as he tries to learn Kung-Fu while saving his village from the rampage of the savage snow leopard Tai Lung.

Rewatching Kung fu Panda made me realize this movie had everything.

A great storyline. Well-developed characters. Memorable lessons.

And the greatest lessons of the movie are learned with a focus on Tai Lung, the main antagonist of the story.

The Leopard, The Legacy

Understanding Tai Lung

Whether as an upgrade of Tigress, a direct counterpart of Po or as Shifu’s fallen student, Tai Lung was a great villain.

Before the beginning of the movie, Tai Lung was in prison, and we get to know more about him from his escape from prison.

His ferocity. The quickness. His ability to make clever decisions. And his full mastery of kung fu.

As the story goes on, Tai Lung takes on the furious five (a group of his former kung fu master’s greatest students). He overpowers them with ease. His domination was so epic that Po trembled with the fear after hearing this encounter.

Yet in the final battle, this ferocious snow leopard loses to an easygoing big fat panda. Not because Po was quicker or stronger. Tai Lung lost because of three fundamental ideals

Read this to the end. There is a lot to unpack.

The Dangers of Pride and Entitlement

Shifu trained Tai Lung at the Jade Palace, raising him to believe he would become the Dragon Warrior.

However, when Oogway (Shifu’s master) denied him the title, the snow leopard revealed his true dark nature. He rampaged through the Valley, which led to his twenty-years in prison.

Tai Lung’s seething rage and fury did not fade, even after spending so many years in prison. His pride and arrogance did not leave him. Tai Lung’s entitlement mentality made him become the worst version of himself.

We see it clearly on his first encounter with Po:

Tai Lung: Who are you?
Po: Buddy, I... am the Dragon Warrior!
[bows over, panting from the stairs]
Tai Lung: [incredulous] You?
[laughs]
Tai Lung: He's a panda! You're a panda! What are you gonna do, big guy? Sit on me?
Po: Don't tempt me.

The eventual downfall of Tai Lung came from his denial and underestimation of Po.

Tai Lung also did not learn humility. And this virtue he lacked led him to crumble under the weight of expectations.

Crumbling Under the Weight of Expectations

This weight was not entirely the fault of Tai Lung.

Shifu filled his student’s head with the idea that he was destined for greatness. And gaining the dragon scroll was meant to be the physical representation of greatness of his years of kung fu training and mastery. Shifu also seemed to move on and never visited Tai Lung during his 20-year incarceration.

I know it’s not easy but Tai Lung should have moved on as well.

His next goal should have been simple. Focus on growing and improving yourself mentally, rather than seeking more strength and waiting for appreciation. Yet, Tai Lung allowed the weight of expectations to crush him.

Because of this weight, the former kung fu prodigy failed to understand and overcome the curse we are learning next.

The Ferocious Antagonist of Kung Fu Panda

The Curse of Seeking Validation

Next to Oogway, Tai Lung is virtually the most skilled and dangerous Kung Fu Master alive.

The snow leopard had immense physical strength, was able to punch and tear his way through numerous armored opponents. He was a kung fu prodigy from childhood. The prodigy was the first student to master all one-thousand scrolls of kung-fu.

Yet he had a fatal flaw.

This flaw is perfectly seen in the snow leopard’s dialogue with Shifu after his prison break:

Tai Lung: [growls] I rotted in jail for 20 years because of YOUR weakness!
Shifu: Obeying your master is not weakness!

Tai Lung: You knew I was the Dragon Warrior! You always knew! 
But when Oogway said otherwise, what did you do? What did you do? NOTHING!

Shifu: You were not meant to be the Dragon Warrior! That was not my fault!

Tai Lung: Not your fault? Who filled my head with dreams? 
Who drove me to train until my bones cracked? 
Who denied me my destiny?

Shifu: It was never my decision to make!
[gazes at Oogway's shrine and picks up his staff]

Tai Lung: It is *now*. Give me the Scroll!

Tai Lung’s ultimate goal was to be the Dragon Warrior and be handed the Dragon Scroll, which he firmly believed was his destiny.

Despite his heartless and insensitive exterior, Tai Lung was naturally unassertive and insecure as well. He never believed in himself to start with, and needed the Dragon Scroll to believe.

Ironically as long as he could not believe in himself, he could never win against Po.

Believe in yourself

As an adult rewatching Kung Fu Panda, there are questions gleaned from the movie to understand yourself better.

Can I stay humble when winning?
Am I afraid to change my path when it is no longer sustainable?
Do I still search for other people’s approval to validate my success and experiences?
Are these dreams mine or someone’s else?
Is anybody denying me my destiny?

There are so many questions to ask yourself.

The answers are right there in front of you. It comes no matter what you do. It is like what Master Oogway said: One often meets his destiny on the path he takes to avoid it.

Just believe in yourself. Don’t fight or seek it in someone or something else.

July 7, 2024 / 0 Comments

Locked In: 6 Reminders for how to Finish the Remaining Year

For someone to be locked in is an act or instance of becoming unalterable, unmovable, or rigid.

But this is opposite of what we do when it is the middle of the year. Whenever we get to July in any year, there is always the tendency to slow down. Or go with the flow. After all, what was not done from January to June might not happen in July or the rest of the year.

Please don’t think like this. The year is not over. We are in halftime. You still need to maintain momentum. Staying locked in is an important process in doing your best this year.

Stay Locked In

I love how Topsy-Kola Oyeneyin (TKO) puts it. This is from her newsletter.

If the first half was challenging or disappointing, that’s okay; it’s an opportunity to start afresh. If it was great, congratulations! Now is the time to build on it – don’t lose focus. Either way, don’t fixate on the current score; you’re playing for the entire game, not just the half, and the game isn’t over yet.

This is like how football players get to rest for a few minutes after the first half and before the second half begins. In those minutes, their coach comes to encourage his players to ensure they get the victory they need.

It is July, and you are in the same position too. So, before you go back in full gear, here are 7 reminders on how to stay locked in for the rest of the year.

Be consistent

Don’t abandon the goals and dreams you wrote at the beginning of this year.

Keep transforming your goal into simple regular habits by building rhythms and routines that work for you. Create and maintain checklists that break down your goals. Then take notes to measure your progress.

When you consistently work towards a goal, you are more likely to succeed.

2. Maintain Focus

This is what allows you to completely concentrate your entire being on a specific activity to achieve it.

When doing your daily tasks, be present in the moment. Treat everything you do as important. From big things to the little things. The better you focus when you do the little things, the better you’ll do in big stages.

Stay focused and keep moving forward.

3. Build privately

This is what I call a magical life – build in secret, celebrate in public.

Living a magical life for the rest of the year is learning a secret recipe to success. Your life is hidden in plain sight yet accessible only to a chosen few. Don’t confuse noise for success. Take deliberate quiet actions, rather than announcing your intentions to the world.

This is a rare art form you must learn to adopt.

4. Increase your chances of getting lucky

Life is in cycles and seasons will always come back and go.

This means you will have several opportunities in life to experience breakthroughs. Before these breakthroughs arrive, work hard and learn to recognize and act on opportunities. This is how you create your own luck.

Because Luck happens when preparation meets opportunities.

5. Love People

85% of your financial success comes down to your personality and how you treat people.

Be friendly. Don’t criticize, complain or condemn. Give honest and sincere appreciation. Always show empathy and put yourself in people’s shoes when communicating with them.

Learn to love people, not the way your school mates, novels and movies taught you, but the way your creator tries to teach you everyday.

6. Keep leveling up

You are the main character in your life. Act like it. I love how this quote put it:

Become the greatest your bloodline has ever seen. Then pass it down.

The quest is simple. Improve yourself. Prioritize your health and goals. Take actions daily and build relationships.

That’s 6 already, but there’s a 7th culled from Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

The Fear of God is important… to ensure that while you plan on finishing this year strong, you are also looking at the bigger picture (your life) as well.

Stay Locked In, my friend. The world awaits your legacy.