What We Can All Learn from the Commonwealth Games

Since last Thursday I have been attending the Commonwealth Games – or watching on the TV. As you read this, I will have attended the athletics including the 100 metres finals. We all learn from each other, and whilst I don’t believe we exclusively learn from sportspeople (there are great lessons we learn from stage performers and musicians too!), I wanted to highlight some observations and how this could apply to our business and personal lives.

First of all, we have two wheelchair athletes competing in the marathon. Liam Adams moaned that the route was difficult. “I didn’t have a clue” he said, “The map of the course and the format didn’t work on my phone so I didn’t know how many hills there were and the last half was absolutely brutal”. And David Weir, a star wheelchair marathon competitor had a flat tyre with 10km to do. He regretted not packing a spare wheel – which is allowed. As a musician and stage performer, it was drummed into me that I was personally responsible for props (check they are there), being prepared and not blame anyone else. It is called self-leadership and is a powerful mentality to have. Any professional athlete showing up for a marathon having not checked the route beforehand by driving through it; looking on an OS map for gradients rather than your phone does not deserve the right to moan! Be prepared; take personal responsibility.

Secondly, I attended the women’s gymnastics and what a treat. The skill, fearlessness and grace were extraordinary. One feature particularly struck me; even in the warm up there was one gymnast who fell flat on her face (literally), falling off the uneven bars. The crowd were all shocked, but she got up and continued her warm up. And during the competition, there were many competitors who fell off the beam during their challenging routines. In fact a couple jumped on the beam at the beginning of their routines only to fall straight off. But they composed themselves and got back onto the beam to complete their routines. This is part of their training: keeping focused and especially carrying on until the end of the routine. Certainly as a musician I was trained to carry on and not dwell on a mistake. And this is something that might happen in a presentation; everything from slides being stuck; a disruption at the back of the room; a fire alarm going off during your presentation. Anything! Try to keep focused and remember “It’s not over until the Fat Lady Sings”

Finally, no Commonwealth Games article is complete without mentioning English champions Dame Laura Kenny and Adam Peaty. Kenny had a miscarriage at the end of last year and an ectopic pregnancy in January – resulting in emergency surgery, and Adam Peaty has a broken foot. Both champions wanted to compete in the games; for Peaty it was local for him and a chance for his family to see him. But both were not match fit. Their performances were way below their normal. In fact Peaty came 4 th in the 100m breaststroke. For him especially it was a shock and not a position he was used to. And for Kenny, she revealed that going back to cycling was helping with her mental health following the pregnancies.

But the sign of a real champion is how they self-motivate and find a way to compete to the best of their abilities. In both cases, they had crashed to rock bottom and reflected that life (and sport) has its ups and downs. Both champions reflected on why they do sport and found the joy of being there: cycling or swimming, to enjoy the moment rather than winning. And this is what helped both champions rediscover their mojo – with both winning GOLD!

So my message to you is: find why you first started in your job. What did you really enjoy?What brought you joy? It is this energy that will help you start rediscovering your mojo again.

Good luck!