Tag Archives: TSN

Life Lessons Everyone Can Learn From Olympic Athletes

All eyes were on Rio for two weeks when the world’s greatest athletes competed in the 2016 Summer Games. Next years Summer Olympics look to be no different. While it’s great to enjoy the games, there are actually some very important lessons that everyone can learn from watching Olympic athletes.

Steve Siebold
Steve Siebold

Steve Siebold, a former professional athlete, psychological performance coach and author of 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of The World Class, says there are 10 important lessons we can all learn about success from Olympic athletes:

  1. They never stop learning: Olympic athletes are at the top of their games because they spend so much time practicing, watching replays of their performance and strategizing with their coaches. If you want to be the best at something, you must commit yourself to being a student for life.

2. They overcome obstacles: When most people run into an obstacle, they seek escape.  Olympic athletes have a plan to push forward when this happens and learn all they can from the challenge.  They know facing adversity is part of being successful.

You can beat adversity! The no1 ranked player lost to skill and mental toughness.
Click me! You can beat adversity! The 2016 #1 ranked player lost to skill and mental toughness.
  1. They think big: Ask most people what they’re thinking at any given time, and you might be surprised to learn how many think about just getting by.  That’s called selling yourself short.  If you ask every athlete in Rio if they think they are going to win the gold, they would all tell you ‘yes.’ They fully believe in themselves and their abilities, and nothing you could say will talk them out of it. They think big and therefore get big results.
  1. They know consciousness is contagious. Olympic athletes live together and spend so much time together because consciousness is contagious. Your level of success in any area of your life is most likely the same as the people you spend the most time with.  If you want to be better at something, get around people who push you to greatness.
  1. They are consistently great.  The reason Olympians are so consistent is because their actions are congruent with their thought processes.  They have a very clear mental picture of what they want, why they want it and how to move closer to their target objective.  Do you?
  1. They compartmentalize their emotions.  In other words, Olympic athletes have the ability to put aside anything else going on at that very moment, and focus only on the task in front of them: winning the gold.
  1. They know very good is bad.  For the average person, to be classified as very good is something to be proud of.  For the great ones like Olympians, it’s an insult. Don’t settle for mediocrity. Why just be happy with the bronze or silver when you can go for the gold?
  1. They are held accountable: Olympic athletes are held accountable on so many levels.  One of the biggest problems is that most people have no means of accountability or a support system in place when it comes to what they’re trying to accomplish. Whether it’s losing weight, making more money or anything else, being held accountable changes everything.
  1. They know it’s their desire that counts. Olympic athletes know winning isn’t everything.  It’s wanting to win that counts.  Olympians have a “whatever it takes” attitude.  They’ve made the decision to pay any price and bear any burden in the name of victory.
  1. They are comeback artists: While most people are demoralized by setbacks and defeat, Olympians know that large scale success is based on a series of comebacks. Emotionally speaking, they don’t understand the concept of giving up. On the physical plane, they have perseverance. On the mental plane, they have toughness.  On the spiritual plane, we call it artistry. For the Silo, Jack Allen.

Supplemental- Top Ten All Time Sporting Upsets

In The United Kingdom, Toronto Blue Jays Makes Canada Tourist Target

In the era of social media, it only takes a few seconds for a picture to change the world. Photographs shared on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest can shape public opinion in seconds, which has huge implications for politics, marketing, and social campaigning.

Last week, amongst the many iconic images doing the rounds on people’s timelines and newsfeeds, one from the world of sport stood out: the shots of Jose Bautista tossing his bat after hitting a game-winning home run in the Toronto Blue Jays’ 6-3 win over Texas Rangers.

The image at the top of this article summed up the passion and emotion that are hallmarks of Bautista’s style of play, and drew attention to the fantastic entertainment that the Blue Jays’ campaign in the American League Championship Series has provided for millions of loyal fans.

Anyone who glimpsed the photos and dug a little deeper into the backstory would have learned of Bautista’s brilliant performance in a do-or-die game for the Jays. The contest was full of drama and controversy, disputed calls, crucial errors, and brilliant baseball.

In countries like the UK, where baseball barely registers on the radar of most sports fans, moments like this can be pivotal. All of a sudden, legions of sports fans sit up and take notice of what’s happening overseas, and some of them fall head over heels in love.

image: tsn.ca
image: tsn.ca

All it takes is a performance like Bautista’s to send sports fans into action. Some of them will be slow burners, taking note of the Blue Jays’ progress over the years before gradually developing into full-blown fans. Some will use their newfound interest in baseball as part of their sports betting strategy. Sports betting is huge in Europe, and many avid gamblers relish the opportunity to gain an advantage over bookmakers and place bets on the less-talked-about sports at online destinations like Bet365 and others.

Then, there are the sports fans who will take drastic action when they discover a new sport that they enjoy. These are the superfans who will go straight to the Blue Jays’ online store, immediately buy themselves a jersey, and then book themselves on the next available flight to Toronto in time to catch the very next game taking place at Rogers Centre.

Sports tourism is a huge industry, and was cited as the fastest growing sector in the global travel and tourism industry back in 2008, accounting for $600 billion – or 10 per cent – of the international travel tourism market.

Sports clubs and franchises have cottoned on to this, and are employing marketing managers who are wise to the power of social media to gain new fans overseas and bring them flocking to the stadiums and stores where they will spend their money and contribute to the club’s coffers.

Baseball is some way behind sports like football, which have been successfully exported to Europe through initiatives like the International Series, which sees a number of NFL games played in London each season.

Europe lacks the stadiums and infrastructure to support a similar export of baseball, but that certainly won’t stop clubs like the Blue Jays from reaping the benefits of the new fans who will support the club from afar if they continue to send powerful messages around the world via the web. For the Silo, Keith Allison