This week I’ve been focused on mental toughness. It’s about ignoring all the silliness going around you at all costs to your focus and to your sanity. If you do this, you’ll be accused of living in your own world. But think about this.
Do you recall the Mens’ 100 meter final at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games? The competitors were hot off the blocks when they were called back for false starts, not once, but twice. And it was crazy, because Linford Christy didn’t want to leave the field of competition because he was the one caught with the 2nd false start. That delayed the final by even more time.
It could’ve been easy for everyone to lose their focus on the prize – to win the top honor in athletics as the fastest man on earth. What’s interesting is that Jamaican born Bailey (running for Canada) has already run most of way down the track during the first false start.
He should’ve been tired! Two false starts, has a bad start on the third try, and breaks the world record in the 100m (9.84 sec) and holds the record until fellow Jamaican, Usain Bolt, demolishes the record in Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Donovan couldn’t have been prouder because he keeps close tabs on what’s happening back home in Jamaica and here in Canada, on the sport.
Desire. Goal. Preparation. Focus. Mental toughness. Unshakeable even when everything around him is going nuts. You can too.
Donovan Bailey. A proud moment in Canadian and international athletics.
Cheers. Dr. Joanny
Dr. Joanny Liu, TCMD, RAc, P.Eng. Dr Joanny Liu “Best Selling Author and founder of Extraordinary Sports Medicine, where we help athletes reverse injury, get back in the game they love and improve their quality of life.” Best selling book at: Heal Your Concussion: How to Quickly and Effectively Get Back in the Game Remember, we’ve got two books about healing concussions in Amazon: Knock OUT Concussions, Heal Your Concussion: 21 Days to Brain Health, and Dr. Joanny’s new book, Heal Your Concussion: How to Quickly and Effectively Get Back in the Game is NOW live on Amazon!