The Health and Fitness ChannelAugust, 2002 IssueYour Truth In Fitness Source
In this issue I'm going to do something a little different from what I have done in past newsletters. I was all set to tell you about 'Power Foods' this month until I came across an article I read that really impressed me. It was written by Jonathan Edwards, who, if you don't recognize the name, is the 2000 Olympic gold medal champion in the triple jump. Jonathan also holds the world record in the triple jump, set in 1995, with an incredible leap of 60 feet and 1/4 inch. What is so remarkable about this jump is that the 60 foot barrier in triple jumping was once considered undoable, and not within human limits. In reality it was the 18 meter barrier (just shy of 60 feet) that had never been broken and Jonathan literally shattered it. Jonathan describes that special year and breaking the world record not once or twice, but three separate times that year. "At the beginning of 1995 I was a world-class athlete but I could never have predicted what would happen that year. [three world records, unbeaten throughout the year]. I still cannot really explain what happened. I was running faster, I was stronger, I improved my technique but it still did not add up to what happened. Obviously I wasn't in touch with what my potential was-- it was still a big surprise to me.' And finally, after trying since 1992 to win a gold medal in the Olympic triple jump, Jonathan struck gold in the Sydney 2000 Olympics. He said afterwards, 'To come here and win in Sydney at the age of 34 is a fabulous gift and I thank God for it. It is beyond words." Now that you know a little about the man who penned today's article, you'll soon see that not only is he gifted in athletics, but in inspirational writing as well. I believe this article has much use for all of us. You don't necessarily
have to take the advice Jonathan provides literally for it is geared
to athletics and sport. Rather, Without further ado, here is Jonathan's article... by Jonathan Edwards. If you didn’t see the Tour de France last week you missed yet another amazing sporting achievement. For the fourth year in a row a cancer survivor won the most grueling sporting event on the planet. The story of Lance Armstrong is one that every one should know and understand. If you have not read his biography go to the bookstore and buy it. It’s Not About The Bike is the true story of a man who reinvented himself, post cancer. I don’t have room for all the gory details in this article but trust me, go get this book. THE TEAM When interviewed this year as to why he won for the fourth time Lance
revealed “It was the team.” The team was the reason why he was able
to win. You know what? Almost every entrepreneur would say that as well.
Every businessman will What I want to talk about this month is the Athlete as Entrepreneur and why you need to surround yourself with good people. In business, the CEO is what I call “the idea guy.” He’s the one with
the major idea that the business is built around. It is from this idea
that the business is Bill Gates had a great idea and openly said he hired the best people
to get that idea to market. Without those people in place Microsoft
would not be the giant we see If Bill had tried to learn every aspect of his business before he tried
to land that first deal with IBM there wouldn’t be half the products
you use on your computer. As an athlete your “idea” is your skill, your passion. In Lance’s case his passion is riding his bike. At a young age he realized that he loved riding and running and, most importantly, that he was good at it. Most of us end up like this. We have a passion for something and after a certain amount of time and money invested we realize that “Hey, I’m pretty good at this.” It’s at this point that some of us attempt to become competitive and
take our passion and test it against others with the same passions.
Sometimes we are on a MANAGING YOUR PASSION, HOW TO REALLY BAKE A CAKE, AND THE GLASS CEILING THAT HURTS WHEN YOU HIT ITThe moment you decide to get competitive is where the real management of your passion comes into play. You come to a crossroads where the investment of time and money becomes greater and it is here that you tend to sabotage your potential for success. Think of the entrepreneur who bakes pies. She loves to bake pies. Her great great Grandma passed down a recipe that has survived for generations and now she loves to bake pies. So the natural thing is to start a business baking pies. Unfortunately this woman has no idea how to run a business that mass produces pies so at a certain point she maxes out. Her skill and her passion has reached it’s limit. It is here that a whole new level of thinking must be created, a new group of experts must be brought in to take this pie baking skill to the next level. WE ALWAYS NEED TEAMS When Lance was first diagnosed with cancer his first job Was to surround himself with a group of people, a team, to first kill his cancer, and second, get him back to riding again. In his biography he talks about the first set of Doctors that he saw in Texas when he was first diagnosed with cancer. These Doctors were extremely gung-ho and were ready to prescribe this World-class athlete a chemotherapy schedule that would be his best chance for killing his cancer. However, Lance’s livelihood depended on him riding a bike in the future and this bout of chemo had a small percentage of killing his cancer but it had a 100% chance of frying his lungs so that he would never have the lung capacity to ride a bike again. His first attempt at building a team was not going to get him to where he wanted to go so he had to look elsewhere. (Important! When building a team it is obviously important to find
people who are going to help you succeed. Sometimes these people are
referred to us by friends and family and we expect them to be knowledgeable.
The famous comedian George Carlin does a skit on The World’s Worst Doctor.
George says, somewhere on this Earth is the World’s worst Doctor. It’s
true. By process of elimination somewhere is the Worlds worst Doctor.
The sad/funny thing is is that Don’t let this happen to you. Do your own due diligence and find out if that “expert” can really help you. In Lance’s case it would have cost him his career and we would have never had the chance to witness the success that we are seeing today.) Lance went on to find a more understanding group of Doctors who were able to provide him with a better chemo treatment that ultimately left his lungs in tact and gave him the opportunity to ride again. The lesson here is to surround yourself with people who can help you with your goal, not talk you out of it and possibly keep it from ever happening. Next Lance built his body back up by listening to his coach and mentor Chris Carmichael (www.TrainRight.com) Chris took a scientific approach to Lance and built him back up to the champion we see today from scratch. Chemotherapy completely wiped out the old Lance. That’s what it does.
Chemo kills every cell in your body, that’s why your hair falls out,
you go pale, you vomit But what it did to Lance was give him the foundation for a whole new body with completely different muscle structure. Without cancer Lance would not be the athlete he is now. It was actually a factor in Lance’s ability to ride mountains with the speed we see now. Chris Carmichael was able to start from scratch and build Lance’s cardio respiratory endurance to win the Tour de France. Could another coach have done the same thing? Probably not. Chris is showing that he is, by far, the best Cardio coach in the world and his attention to detail is unsurpassed. Without Chris, Lance’s success may never have happened. Next for Lance was his Team, Cofidis. The French team Lance rode for,pre-cancer, dropped him like a hot rock while he was going through chemotherapy. (Just one more reason to dislike the French if you are so inclined) The US Postal Service Team co-sponsored by Thomas Weisel Partners and Yahoo! gave him a shot and the rest is history. Without that support Lance would still be looking for a ride back in Austin. It took a lot of guts to give a rider a second chance after going through chemo and brain surgery, but what a payoff! I don’t know about you but doesn’t it always seem that when the biggest chances are taken the biggest payoffs happen? Don’t you go running to Vegas now, you hear me? (Side note: What a shame. Instead of Lance winning all these Tours for a French team in France, which would be great for French cycling, he is winning on an American team in France. Makes that bitter sponsor drop pretty sweet. Too bad for France. Goin’ Postal on France!) Over the last four years Lance has strengthened his team by adding riders who compliment him on every aspect of his ride: the flats, the climbs, and the sprints. Just as a great businessman surrounds himself with great marketing people, accountants, lawyers, and secretarial types to free him up to do what he does best: Lance has surrounded himself with teammates who allow him to excel at what he does best. Not only has he succeeded in riding his bike and winning races, he has increased the value of his team to sponsors and has raised millions for his foundation in the fight against cancer. So I ask you…are you creating your team? Are you delegating tasks to people so that you can spend the time doing what you do best? You’re off to a great start by reading this newsletter and looking
for new ways to succeed. Hire a sports psychologist to make you a mental
rock. Hire a strength Create money to support your passion. Create value for your sponsors. But concentrate on creating that team that will help you get to where you want to go. An athlete never gets the gold without a host of people supporting him. Find those people and you will take your passion to even greater heights. Jonathan Edwards is an Olympian, an All-American, a Performance Enhancement Specialist, and budding copywriter and marketing expert. Jonathan would like to thank all of you who wrote such great remarks to his last article. He would love to hear from you and get your thoughts on this article as well as suggestions for future writing assignments. Please write to jone@bodyvelocity.com [This article first appeared in Charles Staley's newsletter The Unnatural Athlete at www.myodynamics.com] So, do you see why I chose to have Jonathan's article in this month's newsletter? I hope you can take his advice, apply it to your own unique situation, and make great leaps towards your "place in the sun." See you next month with more tips and solutions to achieving your best
body.
Harry
"Hank" Johnson Jr, President Harry is the creator of the "Amazing Fat-Loss/Ultimate Results Program" - the most effective method ever developed for losing fat - It will help you lose fat quicker than anything else available today. If you follow Harry's instructions you will have a lean, muscular or sexy body (it's your choice) in 12 - 15 weeks or less -- guaranteed!
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