Michael Phelps continued to make Olympic history over the weekend by winning his 22nd medal; the most any Olympian has won.
After losing his first race to fellow team member, Ryan Lochte, by milliseconds, Michael could have felt despair and that he would not see his dream of winning the most medals realized. Many of us think in black and white: all or nothing.
Although not a familiar feeling for Phelps, losing motivates him as he has said in the past. He came back and won gold in his next race against Lochte and proceeded to win four additional medals.
Phelps had a choice about his attitude. When faced with disappointment we all have choices when things don’t go our way. Phelps had a motivation for why, not a reason for why not.
How do you respond? What motivates you to get back up and move forward positively?
Being aware of our thinking and the mindset we create will determine the action we take and the result we achieve.
We can admire Olympians not only for their physical abilities, but for the life lessons they teach us.