Dan Waldschmidt's Blog

Alex Zanardi woke up. He couldn’t move. Machines were hooked up to every part of his body. His whole body was in pain. Raw agony.

A week earlier, Alex could see his competition ahead of him from the seat of his Formula 1 car, but not for long. Soon he was ahead of everybody.

His car had been the fastest in practice at the American Memorial 500 CART race in Germany. And with 13 laps to go, he was telling himself, “I’ve won!” 

He was on top of the world. He just had to make a stop in the pits before making the final turns to victory. It was quick, like any other pit stop in this race. He was in. He was out. 

Alex was barely on the track when he heard the sound of carbon fiber being ripped apart from lightweight metal alloy. It was his supercar. Being torn into bits.

He had just been hit by another Formula 1 driver. At 190 miles per hour.

Alex heard an explosion. And then he heard nothing. 

Waking up a week later in the hospital all he felt was pain. It washed over him like a wave of cold. Biting deeply into his nervous system.

He didn’t even know his legs were missing until his wife told him.

Alex always thought he’d rather die than live with any type of disability. Especially having both of his legs amputated.

But a funny thing happened.

After he was told his legs were gone, he felt something different. Surprisingly so. He felt thankful. Thrilled, even.

He was alive. Because he shouldn’t have been. 

Alex had been in numerous wrecks before. He had broken more bones than he cared to count. But he had never been soaked in agony and pain like he was that day.

And for the next year as he recovered. 

But every day, Alex woke up with the intention of getting his life back and with the intention of being positive.

He was bombarded by questions of what he would do next and whether he would race again.

Some days, all Alex really wanted, though, was to use the bathroom on his own — without having to rely on anybody else.

So he worked. And worked. And worked.

“You get the chance to take every day as a new opportunity to add something to your life,” Alex said.

He worked every single day. He went to rehabilitation. It was brutal — demanding massive focus, sweat, and pain to learn how to move the parts of his legs he still had. 

Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left…

He figured out that he had to strengthen the rest of his body — because now, he would have to use those muscles to compensate for his missing pieces. 

But Alex didn’t mind.

Instead of allowing himself to feel like he had lost something, he forced himself to see it as a new opportunity.

A new challenge. 

So he set out to prove “that there are no obstacles for the disabled.” 

Within a year, Alex was fit for two prosthetic legs that he helped design.

He had always loved the design side of things, so it only made sense he would have some input on his new appendages. They were lightweight and as comfortable as a prosthetic could be. 

Alex continued with therapy each day, always with a light heart and a good attitude.

He didn’t let himself stay depressed like everyone expected him to. Instead, he adopted a new mindset. 

He was determined to be grateful for the life he still had. And he decided that he would live it to the fullest. 

And that’s exactly what he did. Day by day. Step by step. Piece by piece. Until the day he could get back on his feet.

And that day came. Alex Zanardi, took the first steps on his new legs. All by himself.

He was shaky. It was difficult. There was pain. And fear.

But still he smiled. And worked. 

Less than two years after his wreck, Alex found himself in the driver’s seat of a custom-made BMW with gas and brake controls mounted on the steering wheel.

He looked at the same race track that almost took his life.

He wasn’t there to make a ceremonial round of the track. He wasn’t there for the applause or the pity. He wasn’t there as a publicity stunt.

Alex Zanardi was there to race. 

Even when people questioned his mental state and his physical abilities, he insisted he was not at a disadvantage.

After all, his head had stayed the same. The only thing missing was a few feet.

Alex was back in the race. He didn’t win that day. It took two more years of trying. But in 2005, Alex Zanardi won his first race after returning from his crash. 

But curiosity got the best of him. What else could he do now? 

He decided cycling might be fun. 

Alex started para-cycling — or hand cycling. He would use his arms to pedal and steer his bicycle. It was a great way for him to relieve his stress and to workout. It also happened that he was pretty damn good at it. 

Alex had been racing almost his whole life — he started racing go-karts at 13. He had also been designing and building things his whole life.

Just as he helped with the design of his previous race cars and helped design his own legs, he helped design and build his own para-cycle.

He understood aerodynamics. And that gave him a competitive edge. 
 
The first race he ever competed in, was the New York Marathon in 2007.  He didn’t win. He did come in 4th. Not too shabby for a guy who just started training four months prior to his first race. 

He was quickly asked to compete in the Beijing Paralympics in 2008, but he had to decline. He had already committed to the World Touring Car Championship for that year. 

And when he found himself distracted moving between racing cars and racing para-cycles, he decided to retire from racing cars.

As he stepped down from one seat, he found himself comfortably seated in another one. The hand-cycle. His new passion.

Alex loved training on the cycle. Aside from being a great workout, it made him feel alive, which was all he really strived for every day — to be happy and thankful and alive. 

That singular purpose paid off. 

By 2011, Alex had won the New York marathon — the same one he had come in fourth place in just a few years earlier.

He also came in second at the World Championships. There was only one place left for him to go. The 2012 London Paralympics.

Alex trained tirelessly. When asked how he prepared himself, he said, “I put more effort in avoiding all distractions in my life.” 

And it worked. Alex came away with 2 individual gold medals for Italy and was appointed as BMW’s global brand ambassador.  

It would have been easy for Alex to hang up his cycling helmet and sit back and enjoy his accomplishments.

But that’s not his style.

Again, his curiosity got the best of him. He started wondering if he could be an IRONMAN. 

An IRONMAN race consists of 2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles on a bike, and 26.2 miles running. Alex would have to use only his arms for all three events. 

For the bike portion, he used his hand-cycle. For the running portion, he had to use his wheelchair. The swimming portion he was on level playing waters, except for the missing lower half of his body. 

His arms felt like overcooked pasta. But they were the only things he had to rely on for 140 miles. 

But Alex finished the IRONMAN World Championship. He came in 272nd.  At 47 years old, he was nineteenth in his age bracket. 

Neither age nor disability was enough to slow Alex Zanardi down. He just kept pushing. Literally. 

He pushed his para-cycling talents all the way to the 2016 Paralympics.  

Alex Zanardi won another gold medal in Rio De Janeiro — on the 15 year anniversary of the day he lost his legs. 

Alex is still racing. He competed in the IRONMAN 70.3 in Pula, Croatia less than two months ago. He came in first in his division and finished in less than four hours. 

His life is an inspiration for anyone who has experienced the agony of losing.

Here are a few of those lessons:

No matter how bad things look right now, you can turn them around. It requires daily progress and constant focus on getting to where you want to be.Massive change in your circumstances demands pain, sweat, and focus. You have to work hard to be successful.Being positive is a choice that you get to make for yourself. Even when things looked ugly you are in control of your mindset.Tough goals demand that you do hard things. So stop expecting that life will play fair and that people will do the right thing.The harder you fall, the more reason you have to get up and keep working. Make the choice to crawl your way forward — no matter how slow it seems.Anything is possible if you are willing to do whatever it takes. You can do anything. You can be anything. Everything is an option.

The hard truth is that winners don’t get a shortcut around tragedy.

They just go into it with the expectation that they have the power to change their personal circumstances. No matter how bad things can get.

They work and try and fight and scrap. Never throwing in the towel or expecting a break.

No matter where you are right now in life. No matter what you are going through right now. No matter how much your world feels out of control right now.

All that matters is that you are willing to get back up and try again.

That’s what winners do.

You don’t get a magic bypass around frustration and pain simply because you have big dreams.

Just go be awesome.

By the way, this story is ever so timely.

He lost his legs almost 20 years ago; but just a few days ago, Alex Zanardi, was moved from intensive care to a neuro-rehabilitation center in Milan after suffering a horrific hand-cycling crash in June, as he was training for this year’s Tokyo Paralympics before it was postponed due to COVID-19

Earlier this month, Pope Francis wrote him a letter, praising him for “living life to the fullest and for providing a lesson in humanity.”

The post How To Get Back to Winning After Life Comes Crashing Down Around You. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt.

Did you think that achieving success was going to be easy? That you were going to get the lucky break that no one else in your position will get?

Come on now. Stop being delusional.

You have a dream — but so do a lot of other people. Look around you.

The world is full of people with dreams.

Having a dream doesn’t make you special. It just makes you a person — a person just like everyone else around you.

It’s not your dream that determines your greatness. It’s your resolve. It’s your ability to put in the unrelenting effort that progress demands.

Tom’s story illustrates this like no other.

Tom Molineaux stood in a makeshift 24 square foot boxing ring. In England. Ankle deep in mud and blood.

His own blood ran from his head and down his face. The blood of his opponent, Tom Cribb, stained his bare knuckles and naked chest.  He didn’t pay attention to the cold December rain falling on his beaten body. Nor did he pay attention to the wind threatening to turn that rain to ice on his skin.

All he saw was the bloody and beaten man falling in front of him. And all he felt was victory.

Just years earlier, Tom Molineaux had been living his life as an American slave in Virginia. He was born into slavery in 1784.

Before he was ten years old, Tom was working from early morning light until dark on the plantation.

His body was blackened from days in the sun, but he learned to endure the elements at a young age. And he was no stranger to physical abuse. It was a regular thing on plantations for children to carry more than their little arms should be able to hold — working alongside grown men. He was expected to do the same amount of work. With the same intensity. And beaten when he fell short.

Tom Molineaux learned how to handle pain.

And every day he became stronger — mentally and physically.  

When Tom’s father died, he took over the job as the plantation handyman. Which meant that he spent a lot of time fixing things around the main house — and spent even more time with the plantation owner’s son, Algernon.

Algernon was a wild child with an extreme affection for, drinking, prizefighting, and gambling.  

At a party one night, Algernon had a few too many drinks. When one of his rich friend bragged that his slave was unbeatable in bare-knuckle fighting, Algernon drunkenly countered that Tom was bigger and better and would beat his man to a pulp. He was so sure about it that he was willing to bet the plantation on it. Literally.

Algernon woke up the next day with a terrible headache and the faint memory of the terrible bet he had made the night before.

There would be a fight.  

Algernon knew that Tom could fight, but the fight he had signed him up for was too important to just throw him in the ring and wing it. Algernon needed help. Tom needed training.

England had perfected the sport of boxing. And it just so happened that a Brit with experience in boxing had landed nearby in Virginia.

Algernon hired him to train Tom.

Tom was not as excited about the upcoming fight as Algernon. After all, he had nothing to gain or lose by fighting. It wasn’t his plantation on the line. When Algernon found out that Tom refused to listen to his new trainer or fully participate in any training that would benefit him in the upcoming fight, Algernon was furious.

He threatened Tom with a beating if he didn’t do what he was told. Which did little good. Tom had endured plenty of beatings. He didn’t see what one more could hurt. He was a slave. His life was not his own anyway. If he died, so be it. 

Day after day, Tom went to training. Day after day, Algernon got word that Tom wouldn’t train. Finally, Algernon decided to make Tom a deal.

Algernon already stood to lose everything. If he lost the plantation, he would lose Tom too. Instead of taking the chance of losing his family fortune, he told Tom that if he won the fight, he would get $100. Plus his freedom.

That was all Tom needed to hear. From that moment forward Tom trained for his fight. For his freedom. For his life.

He did everything he was told. He listened attentively. He struck hard and fast. Tom had never wanted anything more in his life than he did in all the moments leading up to that fight.

So he trained. And trained. And trained some more.

The day he waited on finally came. People traveled from hundreds of miles away to see which family would walk away with the other’s fortune.

Tom walked into the ring with his mind made up. That day would be the last day he was a slave.

The crowd waited anxiously for the fight to start. The onlookers placed bets and collected monies.

All eyes were on Tom and his opponent, Abe, as they entered the ring from opposite ends of the ropes. Thrown together like two dogs trained to kill.

The rules of fighting were new. And simple.

There were no bells or whistles. When one man fell, the round ended. When he fell for good or stayed down for longer than 30 seconds, the other man was declared the winner.

Tom struck. And he struck again. Abe fought back, but he could not overpower Tom and his lightning speed.

Tom defeated his opponent in five short rounds.

The crowd went wild at the display of blood and savagery. Algernon went wild when he found out how much he had won.

True to his word, Algernon gave Tom his freedom. And because Tom had won him so much money, Algernon gave Tom an additional $400 to take with him.

So with nothing but $500 and the clothes on his back, Tom left Virginia and never looked back.

You have to train for greatness. You have to prepare for greatness. You have to be willing to put in the time.

When you finally get your opportunity, be ready. Be all in. Don’t hold back. 

You have to be so obsessed about building momentum that it is all you can think about. You don’t have space in your brain for anything else besides getting to where you want to be.

It’s not going to happen for you if you’re not entirely consumed. It’s just not.

You’re not a bad person. The truth is that you just don’t want it bad enough. And that’s why you are not where you want to be.

That’s tough to hear — but it’s the truth. If you wanted it bad enough, you would be acting differently. Wouldn’t you?

You wouldn’t be looking for shortcuts or trying to duck doing the hard things. You would be “head down” pursuing your dream with every fiber of your being. You would be reading different books. Books that help you realize progress towards your dream.

You would be spending your money differently. You would magically find that money you never seem to have when it comes to paying for a coach or a mentor or a digital course that accelerates you closer to your dream.

You would be spending your time differently.

After winning his freedom, Tom Molineaux fought his way through New York. Making a name for himself. He was a fighter to be reckoned with. But he knew that his dreams were bigger than the place he lived/

In his travels, he had heard of the fame and glory of the prizefighters of England. That was the place he needed to be.  After a final bloody bout that garnered him the title of “American Champion,” Tom headed to England confident he could outfight any boxer.

And he did. Tom Molineaux never lost a fight in England.

Meanwhile, he was trying to bait the English Champion, Tom Cribb, into fighting him. But Cribb refused. He said Molineaux wasn’t good enough to fight him.

But with each new victory, England rallied around Tom Molineaux more and more.  They wanted to see the bold American fight the hometown hero.

Eventually, Tom Molineaux said that if the Champion refused to fight him, then, perhaps, Tom Molineaux himself should be named the new Champion of English fighting.

That got Tom Cribb’s attention. He would not be bested by an American. Especially not a black American.

So Tom Cribb agreed to fight Molineaux.

It was a fight that would go down in history. The bout lasted 40 rounds — almost an hour on a cold December day in 1809.

It wasn’t a fair fight. The crowd that had ravenously hyped the fight turned against him when they saw their hometown hero begin to falter.

In the 14th round, the crowd rushed the ring in order to stall the fight so that Tom Cribb could catch his breath. 

In the 28th round, Tom Cribb lay unconscious in mud. Down for longer than the standard 30 seconds. But the umpire changed the rules to please the crowd. Stating that Tom Cribb was still in the fight. 

As the wind continued to whip his blood splattered body, Tom Molineaux wouldn’t give up.

And the crowd wouldn’t accept that he was the winner. bSo round after round. After round. After round. They fought.

Every time Tom Cribb came at him with a blow, Molineaux would greet it with a blow of his own. The two men had beaten each other so badly, it was hard for the crowd to tell the black fighter from the white one. Everything was brown and red.  Mud and blood.

After 40 rounds of combat, Tom Molineaux walked away from the fight holding his head up high. His opponent was unconscious. He himself was barely coherent.  But he was free.

At the time, most people like him weren’t lucky enough to be free. He had made it. He took his opportunity and ran with it. The moment presented itself and he was all in. Ready. And committed.

He fought his way to freedom. And never looked back.

Today, we consider Tom Molineaux the first super-star prizefighter in the history of boxing. All from a life of nothing. He was a slave. Another person’s property. 

From that place, he had brought himself so far. He had literally fought his way to freedom.

Make no mistake. Your fight for progress is just that. A fight. An opportunity for greatness. A chance to set yourself free.

You might have become good at the wrong skills. You can make great excuses. You know how to sound sophisticated while blaming other people. You can chill out like a champion. Taking a break is your thing.

Imagine what you could accomplish if you were burning with passion.

Imagine the possibilities that would emerge for you if you were obsessed entirely with turning your dream into reality.

You’re not guaranteed that life will be fair to you. You’re not promised another day.

Easy is the result of first doing what is hard.

Stop looking for luck, and simply use the moments you have to create results. Today is that second chance you’ve been asking for.

This moment is an opportunity for you to change your future. It’s the same moment everyone else around you has.

So quit bragging about dreams you will never accomplish and put in the work and humility to make progress. Painfully. Slowly. Purposefully. Through the blood and sweat and mud.

Where you are right now is the result of what you did in the past.

Where you go next is a result of what you do now.

The post Having A Dream Doesn’t Make You Special. Doing Something About It Does. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt.

Nothing replaces effort. 

Not working smarter. Not working faster. Not influence, money, or education. 

Effort is the oxygen of your dreams. Without it, you suffocate. Everything you care about dies.

It has become trendy over the last decade to talk about work as if sophistication allows you to skip it. 

That if you know more or have more, then you get to work less. You don’t have to struggle or fight or sweat if you have enough education or a pedigree that says you’re somebody. 

And although at the back of your brain you know that such thinking is ludicrous, there is a part of you that thinks you might be missing out on something. Especially in the heat of the battle. Especially when it feels like the world is caving in around you. 

In those moments of stress and chaos, you look around and ask yourself why you’re in this situation — what you could have done wrong and why you are where you are.

And right behind that thought you start to question what you don’t know. 

Maybe if you buy that course you see advertised on Facebook making money would be a lot easier for you. 

Maybe if you bought that book or seminar or coaching program you would unlock some special essence of empowerment that would allow you to catapult past the stress of uncertainty and the fear of feeling like you’re not going to make it. 

So let me save you time and money with a simple observation. 

Nothing replaces effort. Nothing. Effort is the great equalizer of the universe. 

The smartest, most educated person on the planet looks like a fool without the effort to use that education. On the other hand, we all know more than quite a few rich, successful people who seem like outcasts. 

What makes each of us what we are is our perspective on effort. 

When you embrace effort as your superpower, you automatically expect that your dream is going to require it.

You understand completely that a destiny worth achieving demands massive amounts of effort. 

You aren’t surprised or shocked. You don’t stop and question the universe about why life is so hard. 

You don’t expect anything. Not a break. Not even a fair chance. 

You don’t need any of that when you have effort. Because it’s what separates you from everyone else. 

While they’re stumbling around looking for clarity, you’re putting in the effort to find it. 

See, that’s the thing about clarity. That’s the quirky gamesmanship of finding your way. You’ve been taught that if you only know the right plan and match it with effort, you can accomplish all your dreams. 

And, certainly that is not a bad way to live your life — with clear thinking and unbridled passion. 

But where things get confusing is when you stop knowing what to do. When you don’t have the plan. When you don’t see the path. 

Effort doesn’t spring from clarity. It’s the other way around. 

Clarity bursts forth from the fertilization of effort.

You move and grow and grind. Stumbling towards where you think you want to be. Facing the unknown with courage — not unnecessarily fearless or invulnerable — knowing that doing nothing can’t be the answer.  Waiting can’t be the answer. Hoping things magically turn out okay can’t be the answer. 

No. Effort is the answer. You pushing forward with every ounce of your being — minute by minute, day after day. 

Not because you’re not smart enough to know what else to do. But very much because you know that nothing replaces effort. 

So, as you rise to meet the days in front of you know that your destiny is not to be won with small gestures or painless agitation. 

To get to where you want to be, no matter where that might be, you will have to strain your back against the tides of resistance and pull yourself forward — piece by piece, step by step — until you stand upon the mountain top of your dreams. 

Climb on, my friend. Climb on.

The post Nothing Can Replace Effort. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt.

Being successful comes down to how hard you are willing to work. That’s it.

There are always new skills you need to learn. There are new technology that will save you heartache and pain. Gurus, consultants, and mentors can guide you past the obvious obstacles standing in your way.

But none of that matters more than how hard you’re willing to work.

Nothing works if you don’t work. Most things won’t work unless you work hard.

The harder you work, the more successful you will be.

It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to achieve. It doesn’t matter how big your goals are. If you work hard enough for long enough you can have it all.

Money, fame, trophies, records — they are owned by the person working harder than you right now. That person that is doing what you make excuses for not doing.

Born in the heart of Switzerland surrounded by the Swiss Alps, Dick Williams knew what it meant to live the “good life”. He never had to worry about how he’d pay for his education: his parents paid for a private tutor at a Swiss boarding school, teaching him to speak fluent French & German.

He never had to worry about “getting his name out there”. He was born to Charles Duane Williams, a founding member of the International Tennis Federation — and direct descendent of Benjamin Franklin. His dad was massively successful, and he wanted his son to be the same way.

At 12, his parents stuck a tennis racket in his hand and started teaching him to play the sport his dad loved so much.

And he started to love it too.

With the help of some of the best teachers money could by, he became one of the best in the game—at 20—winning the 1911 Swiss Championship.

It was no surprise, given their wealth and prestige, that this father/son duo decided to cruise in first class on the maiden voyage of the most opulent ocean liner to date, owned and operated by the White Star Line.

They lived on the luxurious C Deck with the majority of the other First Class passengers, enjoying incredible amenities: a smoking room, reading and writing rooms, and an exclusive cafe.

It was a voyage they were going to remember for a lifetime.

But not for the reasons they expected.

“Iceberg!” The lookout cried out the warning in the late night hours of April 14th.

If they smashed into the iceberg, it would be disastrous. The ocean liner, known around the world as “unsinkable,” could sink. The ship’s captain, recognizing the danger, swerved the massive ship to the left, narrowing avoiding the iceberg. Or so he thought.

The ship’s clock read 11:40 pm.

SCREEEEEEECH.

The iceberg was larger than they thought underneath the surface, ripping a gash in the starboard plates of the RMS Titanic.

Water flooded into the special compartments built to contain flooding in the event of a disaster. But the engineers never anticipated a gash running nearly half the length of the ship.

Those compartments were quickly overwhelmed and water spilled over into the engine room, leaving the ship dead in the water.

And if they didn’t escape, the passengers would be dead too.

The crew, knowing the worst was imminent, desperately lowered life boats into the water. Who cared if they were only half-full? They needed to save as many as possible.

Meanwhile, Dick & his father raced out of their cabins to see what had caused the noise.

“HELP!” Dick heard the frantic screams of a nearby passenger, who was stuck behind their door.

So he jiggled the doorknob.

Nothing.

It wouldn’t budge.

Taking a few steps back, he threw all of his weight into his shoulder—and through the door.

A steward, seeing the damage he caused, threatened to report him to the ship’s owners. But that would be the least of all three of their problems.

He and his dad ran up to Deck A, where they huddled in fear with other passengers in the gymnasium, clueless. They were trapped in the middle of the ocean. In the middle of nowhere. Nobody could save them.

So they decided to save others. Racing out of Deck A, they helped load women & children into lifeboats.

Passenger after passenger, lifeboat after lifeboat, they saved others when they could’ve saved themselves.

The ice-cold water was no respecter of persons.

It snatched the life out of anyone who couldn’t escape it, regardless of their political status, socioeconomic status, or prior success.

With the last boat lowered, trapping themselves, they headed up to the captain’s bridge to get as far away as possible from the water.

CRACK.

At 2:20 am, the steel could no longer withstand the stress caused by the water flooding the ship. The Titanic broke apart.

CRACK.

Floating nearly upright in the frigid North Atlantic waters, one of the four smoke stacks broke and tumbled directly towards Charles and his son, two of the wealthiest passengers on the Titanic.

Dick jumped out of the way—and right into the nearly frozen, pitch-black waters.

He looked around, desperate to find his dad in the waters next to him.His dad hadn’t been so lucky. Instead, he saw a lifeboat.

He pulled himself in, not caring that it hadn’t been fully assembled. He just wanted to survive. He sat huddled with other passengers—rich, poor, and everywhere in between, in the frozen darkness.

The only lights came from the ship, the stars, and the distress flares still being fired from the Titanic, as the crew desperately tried to hail a nearby ship.

The minutes continued to tick by.

At some point, he lost feeling in his legs, the same legs that carried him to the Swiss Championship and the same legs he thought would continue to propel him to the top of the tennis world.

Instead, he sat shivering in the dark, wanting nothing more than to survive this nightmare.

Finally, around 4 a.m. on April 15, the RMS Carpathia arrived to rescue the remnants of the unsinkable ship.

As the doctor examined the tennis great’s legs, he came to an unavoidable conclusion: Dick’s legs would have to be amputated.

There was a big chance Dick could develop gangrene from the frostbite.

If he wanted to survive, the doctor said, he had no choice but to lose his legs.

But Dick disagreed. He refused to let his tennis career—and his legs—be cut short.

So every day he would pull himself from the hospital bed and start to hobble, willing his legs to move.

Shuffle. Drag. Shuffle. Pull. Shuffle.

He was obsessed. This was his mission now.

His wealthy background didn’t matter anymore. He needed to survive.

Every waking moment found Dick shuffling, willing his legs to move.

Even at night, he woke up every two hours to hobble along.

He worried that if he slept too much, his legs —and his dreams —would die.

And step by step, his gait started to return.

When he arrived stateside, he decided to stay and accomplish his plan to graduate college and play professional tennis.

A year after the disaster, Dick stood again —this time at the top of the tennis world, winning the intercollegiate singles championship for Harvard.

A year after that, in 1914, he won the intercollegiate doubles championship.

In 1915, he took home both the intercollegiate singles and doubles championships.

He made a name for himself in America, just like he had in Europe —despite his legs continuing to cause him pain.

The longer a tennis match went, the more painful his legs felt from the frostbite.

He compensated for his physical disability with mental and emotional ferocity.

Historian Bud Collins said of Williams, “On his best days, when he had the feel and touch and his breathtaking strokes were flashing on the lines, [he] was unbeatable.”

In March 1916, the tennis community ranked him #2 in the world.

He was unbeatable.

The German Army couldn’t stop him during World War I as he fought alongside other Americans in the deadliest American battle of the war. The US government, recognizing his bravery and tenacity, awarded him the Legion of Honor. The French government also recognized his bravery and awarded him the Croix de Guerre.

He was unbeatable.

After the war, tournament after tournament engraved his name on their championship trophy.

Wimbledon emblazoned his name alongside Chuck Garland’s when they won the doubles championship in 1920.

He helped his team win the Davis Cup in both 1925 and 1926.

A year before his back-to-back Davis Cup victories, he partnered with Hazel Wightman to win the mixed doubles gold at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games—a few short miles from where he fought off entrenched German forces during World War I.

He laid down his tennis racket when he was 44, and retired into a lucrative career as a Philadelphia banker.

On June 2, 1968, fifty years and a day after he fought in the infamous Battle of Belleau Wood, he passed away.

And as they prepared him for the funeral, they realized there was a bulk in the jacket he died in. In the midst of the chaos of April 14, 1912, Dick’s father handed him the flask he had always carried.

And Dick continued to carry it. Never forgetting that night. Never forgetting his dad. Never forgetting that every step mattered.

The size of your bank account doesn’t matter. Not degrees. Not certifications. Not the people you know or the knowledge you have.

You still have to put in the work.

Here’s the truth about hard work:

You’re going to have to suffer because of how hard you need to work.You’re going to be tired because of how hard you need to work.You’re going to lose friends because of how hard you need to work.

Working hard isn’t easy, fun, friendly, or free.

You’re going to have to spend your last dollar on working hard. You’re going to have to spend your last belief believing in you — in what you’re doing.

You’re not going to be able to hold back anything. Not pride. Not dignity. Not the embarrassment of failing.

The only chance you have is the one you give yourself. And that chance comes from working hard.

That’s the path to where you want to be. It runs through the valley of exhaustion. Through the brambles of agony and frustration.

But you can have it all. You just have to give all you have. Every day. From now until when you get to where you wanna be.

The post The Only Chance You Have Is The One You Give Yourself. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt.

It’s easy for you to stay positive when things are looking good. You can quickly smile and stay focused when there are no problems. No frustrations in your life.

But it’s harder to do what needs to be done when the pressure of problems is weighing you down. When all you can think about is finding a way out.

It’s hard to smile when all you think about is finding a way up out of the hole you find yourself in at the moment.

When you are beaten down, it’s hard to stay focused and positive and motivated. But that’s exactly the time when you need most to stay motivated. That’s exactly when you do need to stay working. To stay focused.

You’ll learn some of the best lessons of your life when everything seems to be melting down around you.

It’s the tough times that makes you better. That build your character. That define you. It’s the tough times that make you amazing.

Not the easy ones. Not the times when everyone is smiling at you and reminding you how good you are.

It’s the times when the critics treat you unfairly. When the support around you is lean. When the people you think you can count on let you down.

And to be amazing, you have to leverage the tough times. The ugly times. The uncertain, chaotic times.

Maggy opened the door of the bishop’s palace and stepped out. Just outside the front door were her family. and friends. Members of her village and tribe.

Inside that palace, in the village of Ruyigi, her seven adopted children huddled in fear. They were joined by six dozen adults who had fled there out of panic. They were Hutu people. Surrounded by Tutsis, who were out for blood.

There was a bloodbath in Burundi. Unlike any other massacre in Africa. It was personal this time. Tribe against tribe. Sect versus sect.

When Maggy Barankitse opened the palace door that morning and locked it behind her as she stepped out, she could feel the fear in the air. The silent panic. The underlying cry for blood. She recognized the faces looking back at her.

They were her family members.

Family who disagreed with Maggy’s belief that everybody should be able to live together peacefully.

She had been dreading this moment. Refusing to come out of the palace where she had been protecting her adopted children and the Hutu refugees. But her family and the other Tutsis outside began to douse the palace with gasoline. They would burn it to the ground. With Maggy and her children inside. As well as her friends and their children.

They beat Maggy. And stripped her naked in front of the gathering mob. Then they tied her to a chair. And made her watch the sadistic madness that was to follow.

One at a time, her family brutally murdered the Hutu refugees she had been hiding inside the palace.

Maggy watched all 72 of her friends and coworkers die that day.

One by one. Maggie watched. Unable to move. Maggie watched. Unable to help. Maggie watched.

It took almost six full hours to kill those 72 friends of hers. From 9am to 3pm to be exact. Almost a full day’s work.

The children were next.

As Maggie Barankitse sat naked in that chair on October 24, 1993, she prayed for the safety of the children.

And her prayers were answered. The Tutsi accepted a ransom for her 7 adopted children and 18 others who were orphaned by the brutal massacre of their parents.

Done with their thirst for blood. They left Maggie there with her dead. Naked. And in shock.

Freeing herself from her ties, she went to the chapel to pray.

She didn’t know how to go on without them.

“Dear God” she prayed. “Show me how I can continue to live after this.”

Maggy’s children made their way to her as she prayed. She watched the children of those 72 butchered friends come out of hiding. They were now orphans.

Maggie had a choice to make. Would she be the victim? Would she let hate win? Could she make a difference?

She had been raised to love. She had been raised to persevere. She had been raised to teach.

And so she made up her mind. She would go on.

She would attempt to change her corner of the world.

In truth, Maggy didn’t have time to mourn those she lost. She didn’t have time to cry over what had happened to her. She had 7 children of her own and 25 children with dead parents looking to her for answers.

So she did the only thing she knew how to do.

She held each of them in her loving arms. She told them she was their mother now. She promised to make tomorrow brighter for each and every one of them.

Knowing that she needed a safer place to raise your burgeoning family, she fled to the house of a German humanitarian worker in the area, named Mr. Martin. She begged him to let her stay there with all of the kids.

Without hesitation, he agreed.

And it was just one day after the most horrific day of her young life that Maggy Barankitse started Maison Shalom, House of Peace, on the property of her new German hero.

News began to spread rapidly about “the crazy lady of Ruyigi” who was taking in orphans. And the orphans came. One by one. Ten by ten. Every day more children knocked on the door of Mr. Martin’s house, the temporary home of Maison Shalom.

And they kept knocking. As the violence grew worse, more children made their way to their new mother.

They finally outgrew their quarters and needed more space. The Diocese of Ruyigi gave Maggy some property to use.

The civil war continued. The genocide continued. And the children continued to knock on Maggy’s door. And she never turned any of them down.

It didn’t matter if they were Hutu, or Tutsi, or Twa. It didn’t matter.

Maggy took them all in without question and without fear for her life.

A life that could be taken at any moment because of her refusal to be loyal to her Tutsi roots.

From her dangerous corner of Africa, Maggy Barankitse’s story spread around the world. Groups, associations, even governments sent her humanitarian aid, allowing her to continue her work and to grow.

And grow she did.

She grew Maison Shalom into a community. She built homes for the children. Not just an orphanage. She built dorms and paired older children with younger children. She fostered the idea of togetherness. Community. Family. Hutu and Tutsi were now brother and sister.

Since its inception, Maggy has built a hospital, a movie theater, a mechanic shop, a hair salon, a school, and her prized possession, a pool. Not only as a place for the children to swim, but also as a reminder of the blood that was shed and the baptism into a new life for the children.

Since 1993, Maggie has taken in more than 20,000 children.

They call her “The Angel of Burundi” and “The Mother Teresa of Africa.” Often compared to Nelson Mandela in her passion to make the world better, Maggie insists there is nothing special or extraordinary about herself.

“I know I can never stop the war, but I can stop it in my heart and in the hearts of the children.”

After 20 years, peace finally settled in Burundi. But it would not last.

In 2015, unrest resurfaced again. Maggy was forced to go into hiding and flee to Rwanda after threats from her own government.

Maison Shalom in Burundi was shut down. The children who were living there were relocated to Rwanda to be with her.

As she waited for the current president’s term to end, she got news that one of the men she had raised from a boy was killed.

She had to plan his funeral from a different country.

“He will be buried without me or his brothers and sisters of Maison Shalom. It is a very hard time for us all. That is what war does. I am only a mother who wanted to educate generations of young people to break this cycle of violence. I will carry on, no one can stop love.”

And Maggy has carried on.

On April 24, 2016, Maggy was awarded the $1.1 million Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity — an award given to humanitarians in memory of the Armenian Genocide.

She will use that money to continue to educate her growing community of children now living in her temporary Maison Shalom camps in Rwanda.

Even though Maggy is still living in exile, she is preparing her adopted Burundi children for the peace that she is sure will come.

“I want them to come back to Burundi as engineers and scientists — not as rebels bearing arms.”

And that is exactly what is happening. 

One woman. She was stripped naked. And ashamed. Humiliated by her friends and family and loved ones.

In the middle of a troubled continent. Captive inside a country that was embroiled in a civil war of heartbreaking proportions. 100,000 Burundi citizens murdered.

And she saved over 20,000 orphans. Single-handedly.

It’s almost incomprehensible that she was able to stop a massacre that had enraged the entire country for so long. One woman.

In truth, you are no different than her. Same flesh-and-blood. Same fears and failure. Same dreams, hope, and ambition.

You are going to face hardship. Today. Tomorrow. And every year for the rest of your life. You are going to be tested by people and situations who hate what you do and who you are. 

Don’t forget how powerful you really are. Don’t forget that tough times build tough people.

Believe that your dream is possible. Have faith in your ability to figure it out. Love what you do. Serve others. Get busy working.

Change the world.

The post Why Tough Times Build Tough People. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt.

It’s been said by Tony Robbins and other smart leaders that “the quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask yourself.”

WHY?

Questions lead to answers.

Answers generate emotions and drive movement.

Movement determines momentum.

Without momentum, you will always struggle to get to where you want to be.

And without movement, you can’t build momentum.

When you stop and start continuously — chasing quick fixes and easy options to hard solutions — you make your journey to success exponentially more difficult. Almost impossible.

You find yourself taking two steps forward and forty steps backward.

Without momentum, you lurch between doing what is right and what is easy to do right now.

Momentum is the result of you doing small things with discipline and militant focus, regardless of how you feel at the time.

That matters, because over time, doing the right thing leads to success.

Here are a few of those quality questions to ask yourself when you are looking for more momentum in your life.

What are the top three things you know you need to do right away that you been avoiding up to now?What two good things do you need to cut from your life right now so that you are no longer distracted from pursuing your goal of being awesome?Who is that one person in your life you need to build a better relationship with starting right now?How much money do you need to set aside right now for your safety net so that you can live the life of your dreams without chasing “get rich quick” schemes?What’s been keeping you up at night over the last few months that you need to take care of right away?Who do you need to hire (or fire) right now to help you get a little bit closer to where you want to be?What are you afraid of happening right now that you’re too embarrassed to even say out loud?Are you as financially fit as you need to be right now or are you just hoping things stay lucky for you forever?Are you using the right tools to guarantee that you follow up and follow through on a consistent basis?Do you find yourself gravitating towards the fast and easy solution or are you willing to work hard right now?How often do the opinions and criticism of others cause you to throw away the ideas you’re working on right now?Would you be doing what you’re doing right now if you knew you only had a few days left to live?To whom do you need to say “Thank you” or “I’m sorry” for something that has happened recently?Who do you need to become to be more candid right now with the people that are relying on you for direction?What personal health habits do you need to improve right now in order to get to your full potential?How often do you try things before you decide that your idea isn’t going to go anywhere right now?Right now do you actively seek out time for meditation or personal exercise on a daily basis?How much time do you spend watching television, movies, or playing video games each day right now?How often do you set aside time right now to nurture your soul and dig into the pain and fear that tries to control you?Are you mentally strong enough right now to ignore your critics even when they claim to have your best interests at heart?What would you do if you lost everything right now?Who are the 5 people you admire most right now that you need to start associating with?Who do you blame right now when you don’t like the results you been getting?What would others say about you right now if they were asked if you were a person of integrity?How often do you allow yourself to dream big dreams without talking yourself out of getting started right now?What is that one thing that others would say is your super power right now?Do you treat others as compassionately right now as you like to be treated when everything goes wrong for you?What would you be doing right now if you weren’t afraid that you couldn’t do it?Are you actively looking right now for opportunities where you can give value to those who need it most?

Remember, you can’t build momentum without first moving. Movement builds momentum. Not the other way around.

Success isn’t about feeling like being successful. If that were the case, no one would do the uncomfortable, painfully disciplined hard work that is required.

What you feel doesn’t matter. What you end up doing does matter.

Never forget that. It’s time to ask yourself the hard questions about why you are where you are and what it is going to take to get you to where you want to be.

On those days when you’re wishing you had the energy or inspiration to do what success demands, ask yourself how you’ll feel looking back on your life wishing you wouldn’t have wasted your opportunity at greatness.

And then get moving. Because your success matters.

The post Movement, Momentum, And 29 Questions To Get You Focused On Getting To Where You Want To Be. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt.

I often joke from the stage that my mom used to tell me “If you can’t do something brilliant, just don’t do something stupid.”

By this time in my life and after hundreds of keynotes I’m not actually sure if it was my mom or someone else that told me that. Maybe it was a book. Who knows?

The reason why that quote has so much impact for me — and why it’s incredibly sticky once you hear it — is that it rings true for each of us.

No matter how many good decisions you make in your life, your results will always be limited but the scale and scope of your bad decisions.

In other words, no matter how good you are, you’re never better than your worst decision. In that moment at least.

In truth, living a successful life isn’t about being perfect. That’s impossible. It is about, however, about stopping from time to time to make sure your rulebook for success is up to date.

Here are a few important rules to consider:

Accept responsibility for your actions, attitude, and influence.Care about others, yourself, and big dreams.Enjoy the journey. Make sure each step matters.Lead by example. Lead when no one is following.Open your mind to the possibility that there is an option you haven’t considered.Reduce the amount of time you spend “thinking about doing” instead of doing.Settle your differences with class, maturity, and dignity.Teach those who want to learn.Account for how you spend your money, your time, and your passion.Carry your emotions on your sleeve and the burdens of those weaker than you on your back.Count the number of times you keep trying as the measure of your success.Examine your motives, your bank account balance, and the direction you’re headed — every day.Learn a little bit each day from something that goes horribly wrong and frightfully right.Order your relationships, your priorities, your beliefs, and your daily schedule.Refer to women as ladies and to men as a gentleman. A little respect goes a long way.Shake hands firmly. Look the person you’re speaking with in the eye.Tell the truth, but be kind about it. Especially when it’s hard to hear.Achieve big goals by working hard — not by looking for shortcuts.Catch a case of gratitude. Let it infect everything that you do.Cover up your weaknesses by focusing on your strengths.Exist for a reason. Live with purpose.Have a kind word ready for anyone you meet.Leave your negative thoughts in bed when you get up in the morning.Reflect often on the difference you can make in the world around you.Tend your relationships like a garden. Plant seeds, nurture often, and reap bountifully.Act like a hero every day of your life.Cause ordinary people to achieve outrageous success because of your encouragement.Create a legacy of helping other people reach the finish line with you.Expect life to treat you unfairly (often).Head towards where you want to be. Don’t waste time looking back.Lend a hand, a dollar, or a bit of advice — as often as you can.Own your results. Jump to your own conclusions.Refuse to believe that anything is impossible for you to achieve.Share the spotlight with those who helped you get there in the first place.Test your limits. Don’t ever be satisfied by what you did yesterday.Add people to your cause by the example that you lead each day.Change the conversation. Own the thoughts you have. Choose to be positive.Cross off tasks on your “getting things done” list. Be proactive.Experience the quiet moments that are happening around you each day.Hear the silent cry for help coming from those in need around you.Let criticism drive you to work harder, be more focused, and live more boldly.Pass the time living life on your own terms.Regard fools and idiots like the nonsense they really are. Ignore them.Shoot for the moon. Work hard enough to actually get there.Thank the people around you who help you get to where you want to be.Admit when you are wrong. Say “Thank You” and “I’m Sorry” a little bit more often.Charge ahead with your big idea. The only thing standing in your way is “you”.Cry when you get hurt. Then heal. And get back in the fight.Explain your intentions often and early. Don’t expect people to just “get it”.Help make the world a better place. You’ll benefit forever from the good you leave behind.Lie to others (when you have to) — but never lie to yourself.Pay more for the people you hire to help you get to where you want to be.Relate to other people. Work at it. It’s a skill worth investing in.Think about how you would feel in a particular situation. Don’t be a jerk on purpose.Affect other for the better by being who you are.Check your ego from time to time. Arrogance can bury you all too easily.Cut back on what you spend money on. Big dreams need a big budget.Express kindness and gratitude a little more often than you do now.Hide your fear behind activity.Like yourself enough to keep trying even when you screw up.Perform like the world is watching even when no seems to notice that you exist.Release your inhibitions. Dream like anything is possible.Shout. Scream. Fight. Lead. Live. Love. Never stop trying.Throw your worries on the altar of activity. Keep working towards where you want to be.Afford to invest in yourself.Choose the high road — and the long road. There are no shortcuts to success.Damage the bridges you use a little bit less. You never know when you need a better route.Extend your experience by taking risks and venturing boldly into areas that scare you.Hit the ground running each morning. Start by getting things done. That will continue.Limit the excuses that you make. More responsibility never hurt anyone.Pick your friends wisely. You’ll become a lot like the people you hang around.Remain open to learning new things. The moment you stop learning, you start dying.Show your critics you’re serious by working hard each time you take the field.Touch those around you with your generosity and gratitude.“Agree to disagree” instead of holding a grudge. Move on.Claim the high ground with your attitudes and actions.Dance when you’re happy. Cry when you’re sad.Face the fact that you’re not going to get it right the first time around.Hold onto inspirational words, big dreams, and winning moments. Let them empower you.Link your life to good people and good things around you.Place yourself in the scary position where success is hard to achieve. It will make you tougher.Remember the hard-working people around you who help you get to where you want to be.Shut your mouth on angry words, unnecessary criticism, or passive aggression.Train yourself to stop thinking negative thoughts. Be deliberate about protecting your thoughts.Aim for perfection. Keep working until you get there.Clean up after yourself. No wants to have to deal with your baggage (or your dishes).Deal with the facts in front of you. Don’t guess or worry about things that aren’t there.Fail with grace. Don’t blame other people for your own unsuccessful attempts at greatness.Hope big. Dream big. Try big.Listen for what isn’t being said. Be emotionally intelligent. It’s a skill that makes a big difference.Plan to get knocked down in life and you’ll find yourself better at getting back up.Remove your ego from judging critical feedback. Just be awesome. Ignore the “nuttiness”.Sing when you’re happy. Cry when you’re sad. Live with your emotions under control — but on your sleeve.Travel more. Use virtual meeting tools less. Serious business people shake hands and talk face-to-face.Allow yourself to be convinced of other options and possibilities that are out there.Clear your mind of doubts and just press on — even when you don’t feel like you know what you’re doing.Decide to keep moving forward regardless of the cost or effort required. Make up your mind to be badass.Fall for love. Fall for the opportunity to matter. Fall forward into something that matters.Hurt your critics most by just ignoring them.Live every day like it matters — because it does.Play with competitors who are better than you. You’ll take your game to the next level that way.Repeat what works. Repeat what isn’t working yet but truly matters.Sit down and enjoy the sunset from time to time. You’re never too busy to be a bit more inspired.Treat your enemies like people. They are, after all, human.Answer hard questions with a question. You deserve to know “why”…Climb the corporate ladder without stepping on the people around you.Deliver results — even when it’s hard (and especially then).Fasten your seatbelt. You never know when life will throw you a curveball.Identify your weaknesses. Work to improve them.Look at your situation from another perspective. You can always benefit from being more emotionally intelligent.Point out the ways you plan to improve. Be clear with your intentions when you want to do better.Replace worry with action. Now.Sleep when you’re tired. Work until you drop. Make achieving your goal a life long passion.Try and try and try and try and try and try and try and try and try and try again.Appear when there is a problem. Not showing up makes you seem like you don’t care.Close your ears to criticism, unfair comments, and other people’s opinions on what you should be doing.Demand excellence from yourself even when no one else cares.Feed your brain, your soul, and your body with the best fuel.Imagine success. Dream success. Plan for success. Let it consume you.Lose your doubts, your expectations for safety, and your plan for getting it right the first time around.Prefer to lose hard than to win easy. You’ll win more in the long run.Reply with a kind word — or no word at all — even when you don’t like it.Smile more. It makes you awesome.Turn negative life moments into learning opportunities.Apply what you’ve learned from life to your goals and ambitions for you now.Collect great friends, great ideas, and great motivation. They will keep you going for a long time.Deny yourself the opportunity to quit, feel sorry for yourself, or pout.Feel deeply about what you do. Let the emotions of your life drive you to better results.Improve. Don’t stay stagnant. If you aren’t winning, keep learning.Love what you do, who you are, and the dreams that propel you forward.Prepare to be weak and you’ll make yourself stronger.Report. Track. Measure. Improve. Take stock of where you want to be.“Sorta” or “Kinda” or “Maybe” — They aren’t strategies for success. Ever.Understand what makes you tick. Use your “secret sauce” when you need to blow away the competition.Argue for yourself when it matters. (That usually isn’t most of the time)Come to play.  Stop playing it cool. Sweat. Bleed. Fight. Triumph.Depend on others. Be vulnerable enough to ask others for help.Fight for yourself. No one else cares for your dream like you do.Include others in your dream. Make it a movement — not an individual effort.Make waves. Stir up trouble. Aim for impossible. Do what “can’t be done”.Present problems as opportunities for growth. Your brain works better that way.Represent yourself like you’re more confident that you feel on the inside.Sound like you know what you’re talking about. Spend time practicing what you want to say.Use every moment to get a little bit closer to where you want to be.Arrange with thoughtful care your finances, your reputation, and your goals.Commit to be amazing. Don’t try to hedge your bets. Jump in with both feet.Describe in living color the dream you have for you. Make it personal. Live religiously.Fill your life with meaningful moments.Increase the number of times you say “Thank You” and “I’m Sorry” each day.Manage the details. Big problems always start as small issues that are easy to ignore.Press forward even when it seems like there’s no easy way to go.Require the best of those working for you. Don’t let the mistakes of others bring you down.Speak clearly and plainly. Double-talk is frustrating for everyone involved.Arrive on time. Plan ahead. Communicate early and often.Compare your best against someone who is better. Take your game to the next level.Design the future that you want to live in — not one you have to “deal with”.Find ways to make other people smile throughout the day. It’s contagious.Indicate the ways you plan to be better by writing out your goals and expectations.Mark your friends, your enemies, and the people you want with you when things get tough.Prevent whiners and wimps from bringing you down — avoid them at all costs.Rest. Your brain and body function best when you take time to recharge.Stand up for your friends, your beliefs, and those who can’t stand up for themselves.Visit the places that remind you of your journey. Make it a pilgrimage. Get religious about you.Ask for help when you need it. There is no glory in being ignorant.Complain less. Work more. Replace worry with action.Destroy the nonsense around you that distracts you from being amazing.Finish what you start. Get in the habit of developing new disciplines.Influence others around you with your enthusiasm.Matter. Do what matters. Be what matters. Create change that matters.Produce results. Talk. Dream. Share. But work. Nothing works if you don’t.Start doing what you’ve been scared to do up until now.Vote for you. Work for you. Fight for you. Be all in on you.Attack bullies and their behavior. Stand up for those who can’t up for themselves.Complete what you begin. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.Develop new skills. Be open to new thinking. Push your personal limits.Fit into public settings without always being the person who needs all the attention.Inform more. Communicate better. Be candid. Be thorough.Promise only what you plan to deliver.Return the money you borrow. Be extra careful with other people’s money.State the truth. Be kind about it. But don’t back down from candor.Wait for karma to take care of bad people. Don’t let them be a distraction to you.Avoid whining. Avoid making excuses. Avoid negative people.Concern yourself with doing the things that really matter.Die to your ego. Look past your feelings and make better decisions.Fly above the chaos and fear and pettiness that try to hold you down.Intend to be amazing. Intend to work passionately. Intend to keep going.Mean what you say. Do what you mean.Protect your dreams from the critics around you.Reveal your insecurities. You make them less powerful with your openness.Stay the course. Keep moving towards where you want to be.Walk the talk. Be the person you advertise you are.Base your decisions on where you want to be in the future — not tomorrow.Confirm what you hear. Ask if what you think you heard is accurate.Disappear when you’re not needed. Stop hogging the spotlight.Fold when you don’t have the cards. You can’t always bluff your way to success.Introduce smart people to each other.Measure greatness by the number of times you keep trying.Prove yourself by working tirelessly toward achieving your goals.Stick to your core. Don’t be led astray by what seems easy, quick, or cheap.Want more for yourself. Don’t apologize for having big dreams.Be a better person. Don’t just do better things from time to time.Connect with people who can help you get to where you want to be.Discover new limits by putting yourself in situations where you have to be better.Follow the best lessons of those around you. Learn from everything that happens.Invite challenges. Be bigger than the problems in your way.Meet fear head-on with massive amounts of activity.Provide a safe landing zone for those around you who want to soar.Rise to the occasion. Seize the opportunities around you.Stop complaining. Stop whining. Stop wasting your time with things that don’t matter.Warn those (who want to listen) about the pitfalls ahead of them.Beat the odds. Be the one that does “what’ll never work”.Consider your options for lashing out angrily. You can get wound up another time.Discuss obstacles with inspiration in mind. Problems are often opportunities to grow.Force yourself to stop being negative. Flush fearful thinking while you’re thinking it.Involve those around you in your success. Don’t be a mooch. Be an inspiration.Mention to those around you their best traits. Encourage deliberately.Publish good news boldly. Even if it’s not yours. Be the guy who has something awesome to say.Roll your eyes. Be a skeptic. Don’t believe everything you hear (or don’t hear).Study the best habits of good people (and bad ones). You can learn from everyone. Do it.Wash your hands of other people’s nonsense. Don’t automatically adopt other people’s problems.Become a better person instead of just doing better things.Divide your enemies. Take them on 1-by-1. Force them to fight each other.Forget the past. Move forward. There is always more to achieve.Join with people who can make you better. Hire a coach. Get a mentor.Pull out all the stops. Don’t hold back. Be powerful and deliberate and determined.Run towards where you want to be. Don’t procrastinate.  Get there.Succeed even when people tell you you won’t. Be the rule breaker. Be the exception.Watch out for negative people. Avoid them at all costs.Begin each day with a clear set of goals and a renewed sense of purpose.Contact someone today and tell them that you were “thinking about them.” Smile.Do what needs to be done. Do it each day. Until you’re done.Forgive those who do you wrong. Don’t let negativity cripple your ability to be amazing.Jump into achieving your goals with both feet. Don’t hold back.Mind your manners. No one likes to be around a slob.Push past the pain you feel. You’ll feel better when you get to where you want to be.Suffer silently. You don’t get extra awards for being dramatic.Wear your emotions on your sleeve. Be passionate. Live courageously.Believe that what you are trying to achieve matters.Draw a line in the sand and don’t let the enemy cross it.Form your own opinions. Don’t let other people force their bias on you.Keep your head in the game. What you think about you become.Put your priorities in order. Don’t let the small details fall through the cracksSay what’s on your mind, but mind what you say. Kindness is a virtue.Suggest good ideas when you’re asked. Don’t hold back for later.Will yourself to win. Will yourself to figure it out. Tough it out.Belong to something that matters. Invest in others. Give to great causes.Continue doing what you’re doing now. It takes time to deliver big results.Dress for success. More importantly — live like you want to be successful.Kick your plans into gear. Don’t wait to get started. Move now.Move to the next level. Don’t stay complacent. Push past the obstacles in your way.Raise the bar. Do better tomorrow than you did yesterday.See the powerful, positive side of any situation.Win big. Lose big. Try big. Don’t error on playing it safe.Break the bonds of debt. Spend small now. Live big later.Contribute to the success of others. Don’t be selfish.Drink less. Exercise more. Develop better life skills.Gain benefit from the stories and experiences of others.Kill fear with kindness. Kill cynicism with results.Reach the point in your life where you care less about the opinions of others.Supply the world with inspiration by how you live your life.Wish your way to a better life. Work your way to actually getting there.Build the environment you want to live in. Don’t live in someone else’s world.Control the words you say and thoughts you allow yourself to have.Drive hard. No need to hold back. Have some urgency.Get passionate about your goals. Let that passion consume you — and transform you.Knock out tasks every time you have a free moment. Waste less time watching television.Need to be better. Don’t just try to be better, ache because you’re not better already.Read great books. Readers are leaders. People who don’t read are idiots.Sell better. All of life is a sales pitch. Get better at the craft of influencing other people.Wonder at all the amazing things happening around you. Let that magic inspire you.Cook up your own recipe for success. Might take longer to make but you’ll enjoy the meal better.Drop anything (or anyone) who is holding you back from where you want to be.Give your time and attention to people who want to better their lives.Know the difference between patience and laziness. You need the former — not the latter.Notice the difference that effort makes over time. You can achieve anything if you work hard enough.Realize your full potential by working tirelessly to be the best version of you each day.Send flowers when you do something wrong. A proper apology goes a long way.Suppose you were in their position. How would you feel then? What would you do?Work as hard as you can. And then keep working. Don’t expect that working smarter will help you be amazing.Buy books. Buy a great coach. Invest in a great team to help you get to where you want to be.Copy the best attitudes and intentions of high performers around you.Go further than you did before. Each day push yourself into situations where you can emerge as a champion.Last longer. You can’t be a champion if you aren’t able to stand the test of time.Obtain good information before making important decisions. Invest in better intelligence.Receive criticism for what it is — the opinions of other people. Use what helps you best.Separate facts from fear. Don’t make decisions based on how things “might go”. Live inspired.Survive the day-to-day grind. Don’t let life beat you down. Stand back up and keep fighting.Worry less about what other people think about you and more about how you are working.Call it as you see it. Don’t be unkind and don’t be passive-aggressive.  Just be candid.Correct yourself when you could be doing better. Get serious about being the best version of you possible.Enable those around you to reach their full potential.  Be a friend, a mentor, and a shoulder to lean on.Laugh at yourself. Learn to be humble. Love the opportunity to be better today than you were yesterday.Recognize talent, great advice, and helpful mentors. Make your team better each day.Serve those around you. Make it less about you getting what you want and more about helping others get what they need.Take time to enjoy the journey. It might be rough but it’s your moment in the sun. Savor each second.Encourage greatness in those around you. Be the fuel others need to be amazing.Handle bad news with dignity. Handle good news with humility.Offer to help whenever you can — even when you feel like you need help.Talk less than you listen. Think more than you do either of those.Write down your goals. Make them an indelible part of your daily motivation.End the nonsense that saps your budget, your motivation, and your free time.

We all love a comeback story.

You can always change where you are in life.

You can always level up. Getting better as an option for anyone at any time.

Just know that your decisions have consequences, for good or bad. And know that all the incredible decisions you make on a daily basis — even a minute-by-minute basis — can be easily negated by a thoughtless, harmful decision.

So slow down. Think. Don’t let how you feel right now create a mess for yourself down the road.

The post 301 Rules For Living A Successful Life In The Middle of Troubling Times. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt.

On his ascent up Mount Kilimanjaro, Spencer West looked down at his dirt-stained hands and fingernails. He didn’t know how long it would take before they would be clean again. He had been walking for days.

He was tired. He was hungry. He was ready to move on. But he waited patiently and empathetically as his two traveling companions vomited uncontrollably onto the side of the mountain. The altitude sickness that crippled so many climbers had skipped him and gotten to them.

Spencer wanted to lift them up and carry them. He wanted to help his friends the way they had helped him during this trip. But he couldn’t.

It was the only time in Spencer’s life that he wished he had legs. 

Spencer West was born with a rare bone disorder in his legs. From the moment he was born, doctors told Spencer and his family that he would not have any quality of life. He wouldn’t be able to enjoy or participate in any of the things “regular” kids did. They also didn’t believe he would live through his teen years. 

Spencer and his family chose to believe otherwise.   

Time and time again, Spencer West did things that his doctors would have never dreamed he could do. He learned to skateboard. He danced. He sang. He drove a car. He worked a retail job.

And he was able to do all those things because he never felt like he shouldn’t be able to .

Spencer enjoyed childhood just like any other kid.

Except for two times in his life where he was keenly aware that he was different. 

Once when he had to have both of his legs cut off right above the knee when he was three. 

And a second time when he had to have the remainder of his legs cut off right below his pelvis when he was five. 

Other than that, Spencer got to be a regular kid. Spencer’s mom didn’t believe in babying him because he was different. She wanted to make sure he was responsible for his actions just like any other child his age. 

Because of his mother’s unwillingness to coddle him, Spencer never accepted that he should be limited just because he was a little different than his peers. When he was a toddler, he dragged his dead legs behind him to get wherever he needed to go.

As he got older, his arms got stronger and Spencer made sure to get on with his life just like everyone else. 

He went outside and got into mischief like other little boys do.

He played too close to the street and rode his skateboard too fast down hills. He didn’t worry about getting hurt any more than the other boys in the neighborhood who had legs to carry them. 

But Spencer wasn’t under any impression that he was the same as everyone else. He was acutely aware of the way people looked at him when he came walking in on his hands or rolling in with his wheelchair.

And he didn’t care. 

In elementary school, Spencer decided he would never, ever use the prosthetics that had been made for him. It was the prosthetic limbs that made Spencer feel like he was different. Like he was an outcast. They were awkward, gawky, and not natural looking at all. 

Plus, Spencer got around just fine on his hands. Spencer navigated his way through middle and high school the same way his friends did.

At times it was great.

Other times, when he was being pushed out of his wheelchair onto the floor by the captain of the football team, it wasn’t so great. When everybody walked by him to go their classes instead of stopping to help Spencer back into his wheelchair, it wasn’t so great, but high school eventually ended. And so did the bullying. 

Spencer applied to Westminster and got accepted. An hour from where he grew up, Spencer studied computer science. 

His first year of college brought with it a storm of depression that even the strongest umbrella couldn’t withstand. Spencer was ready to quit and go home before Christmas break. He hated his computer class. He realized computers were not what he wanted to do. He spent a lot of his time alone. Sulking. 

When he went home on Christmas break, he told his mother how he was feeling. His mother had always been very caring and loving toward him so he was sure that she was going to tell him that everything was going to be OK and that he could come home. 

He was wrong. 

Spencer’s mom told him the exact opposite. She told him he needed to quit sulking. She told him that anybody would be miserable if they sat around all day thinking about how miserable they were.

Instead of telling him to come home, she told him to come home less.  To make some friends. To be a college student. 

Spencer went back to college broken and just as depressed as before.

But it didn’t take long before he realized she was right. Spencer was making himself miserable. He wouldn’t allow himself to be happy. Until the day he woke up and looked outside and saw three fellow students throwing snowballs at each other. 

Spencer sat at the window and watched for a long time. Taking in the sounds of their voices. Watching their breath as it escaped from their warm laughs. He wanted to join them. He wanted to be outside playing in the snow. 

Why wasn’t he outside playing in the snow like he wanted?

And then it dawned on him. Nobody was stopping him from going outside. Nobody was forcing him to take the computer class. Nobody was causing his misery. Spencer realized that he was the one in his own way. He couldn’t get out of his head long enough to see his options.

He just kept spiraling down into the abyss of self-pity and aloneness. 

In that moment, Spencer had to make a choice. He could choose to continue on his road of misery or he could change directions. 

Spencer chose to change his direction. To change his mindset. 

By his second year in college, Spencer had changed his major and chosen a communications path. He was able to take music classes, drama classes, broadcasting classes. All the things he loved and was missing by taking computer science.

He was back on the stage acting. He was back on the field cheering. He had made friends with similar interests. He had a job. He had a life.

He wasn’t missing out anymore. 

But he still felt like he was missing something. Spencer felt like he had a calling. He just didn’t know what it was. 

Spencer was offered an opportunity to go to Africa to help build a school the following summer. He didn’t think he would be able to afford it, so he declined. 

But every night, when he was supposed to be sleeping, Spencer kept thinking about the trip. Every day that passed, the feeling just got stronger that he should go. Finally, he made up his mind. He would go. 

When he got to Kenya, he was the talk of the village. The kids wanted to meet him. They wanted to see how he got around. They enjoyed watching him walk on his hands. They really enjoyed watching him do wheelies in his wheelchair.

Then a young girl said something to Spencer that change his life forever: “I didn’t think this happened to white people.”

In that moment, Spencer understood the powerful secret that had been driving him all these years.

Great tragedy unifies people. It drives focus. It accelerates progress.

It eliminates distractions. It enables massive change by bringing people together around a common cause.

But tragedy hurts.

It hurts to attempt a big dream and fail miserably.

It hurts to invest in new relationships that don’t work out.

It hurts to lose weight, save money, quit your job, ask for help, or do countless other things that would lead to breakthrough in your life right now.

It hurts to hurt. And so you avoid it.

Thinking that if you don’t hurt, your life will be a lot more fulfilled.

But you find out all too assuredly that “not hurting” isn’t as safe and rewarding as you thought it might be.

Your willingness to hurt in order to achieve your goals is directly related to how far you get from where you are to where you want to be.

The suffering in your life right now is there to accelerate your progress — not to hold you back.

It can make you better. But you have to let the lessons you learn make you better. Stronger. More resilient and committed.

Since that moment in Africa, Spencer West has done what many people with two legs wouldn’t even attempt. He helped build a school in Africa.  He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro — 80% of that climb was on his hands. He raised millions of dollars for clean water in Kenya. 

What’s the lesson? Be willing to do the things that hurt until you get to the place where you can celebrate.

The post You’re Going To Hurt. What You Do About It Determines How Far You Get. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt.

You’re not going to make the journey to success without getting knocked down.

You’re going to make mistakes.  You’re going to do things that end up costing you money, time, and friendships with people you love.

Sometimes. you are going to do everything right and still have life go horribly wrong.

It doesn’t matter how smart you are in your journey to be successful or how much money you have while you’re journeying, you’re going to make mistakes in the pursuit of your goals.

You’re going to try things and realize too late that it was just a waste of your time. And the only remedy for failure is to get back on your feet. To try again.

But that’s not easy to do. Especially when you feel ridiculous. And scared. Completely freaked out. And lost.

No one knows that better than Arnold.

When he got to the gym, shivering from the freezing bike ride there, he walked to the door and pulled. It was locked.

This couldn’t be happening. Especially after he had committed himself to working out. How could this be fair?

And so Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the age of 15, four miles from his home in Thal, Austria did the only logical thing.

He broke into the gym. Just so he could keep a promise to himself.

He had resolved to become great. He could taste it. He could feel it. He could also feel the cold making its way deep into his bones.

Because the gym was closed, there was no heat that day.

But Arnold wouldn’t let that stop him though. He had, years earlier, dedicated himself to becoming a weightlifting champ. He had envisioned it.  Obsessed about it.

And so, with the towels laying around in the gym, he wrapped up his hands in makeshift gloves, and started his daily workout. Lifting steel bars with hundreds of pounds of weight on them in the freezing cold concrete gym. 

Exercise had always been a part of Arnold’s life. His father was ex-military and a civil police officer. He believed in structure and he believed in discipline.

Every morning before breakfast, Arnold and his brother were forced to do sit-ups and push-ups before they would be allowed to eat.

Arnold didn’t mind. He loved physical activity. He didn’t even mind that his father would make him and his brother practice soccer every single day after school. That is, until Arnold decided that soccer was not the sport he was going to excel in.

That sport would be weightlifting. 

When Arnold was fourteen, he met the current Mr. Austria. His name was Kurt Marnal. Arnold was in awe of the physique of the man. He would watch him swim in the pool and wondered what he did to get that built. Then one day, he decided he would never find out if he didn’t ask. 

From that day on, Kurt took Arnold under his wing.

They would meet daily at the gym. The same gym that Arnold would later break into. Kurt would show him what exercises to do. He would tell him how many reps.

When Arnold first started working out, Kurt pushed him so hard Arnold couldn’t even get on his bike to pedal home. His legs were like Jell-O and his arms felt like rubber bands. He tried numerous times to pedal and steer his bike, but he kept falling over. His balance was off and his limbs wouldn’t work.

So he had to walk the bike home. 

But Arnold loved the pain. He knew without the pain, there would be no rewards. So he continued to work out. He visualized himself becoming Mr. Austria one day. 

That all changed when he saw a magazine from the United States.

The magazine had a picture of a greased-up buff man, flexing on the front cover. It was Reg Park, the current Mr. Universe. 

From that moment on, Arnold saw things much clearer. He expanded his vision.

He would still be Mr. Austria — but he wouldn’t stop there.

He wanted to be Mr. Universe. He wanted to get invited to the United States. He wanted to work out on Muscle Beach. He wanted to break records in powerlifting.

So he worked day in and day out. Before school. After school. Before work. After work. He hung posters of other powerlifting heroes on his wall to motivate himself.

Which his mom had a problem with.

She even went as far as to question the neighborhood doctor. All the other boys were out trying to score a home run with girls. All the other boys had posters of bikini models on their walls. Arnold had posters of really buff men in speedos. She was quite alarmed.

The doctor assured her that it was perfectly normal, healthy even to have male role models. She accepted his opinion and let him have his posters.  

But his success wasn’t easy or automatic.

Every boy in Austria was required to join the army when they became of age. Arnold was no exception. He enlisted and went to basic training.

It wouldn’t have been a problem, but by the time he was 18, he was fairly successful in local lifting arenas. He had even managed to place 3rd in the Mr. Austria contest.

And prior to basic training. He had signed up to compete in the Mr. Europe contest. 

His army sergeant knew the competition was coming up, because Arnold begged and pleaded with him to get a leave of absence to go. But base rules were put in place for a reason and he was denied any sort of leave. Arnold hadn’t worked this hard and this long for the military to tell him what he could and couldn’t do.

So he followed his heart, left camp and took the 7-hour train ride to Stuttgart, Germany where the competition was being held. 

He oiled up and walked out on stage in his tiny borrowed trunks and flexed for all the audience to see. The biggest audience he had ever had before.

And he won Best Built Junior Athlete of Europe. 

When he got back to base, his sergeant was not happy about his leaving.

Especially after being denied permission. Arnold was sentenced to solitary confinement.

He was only there for twenty-four hours, though. When the military found out he had actually won the contest, they freed him. He didn’t sneak out anymore during his training. 

When training camp was over, Arnold was able to set up a weight room on base and was able to work out for four hours a day. And he was served meat every day — which never happened in the civilian world.

With the mixture of weight training and protein, Arnold got bigger and bigger and bigger. He outgrew a uniform every few months. 

After a rocky ride in the army, Arnold was offered a job running a gym in Germany. He didn’t want to pass it up so he applied for an early discharge from the army and was miraculously granted it.

Arnold saw this as just another part of his vision to get to the Mr. Universe title and ultimately to the United States. 

He knew what he wanted and was working to turn his vision into reality.

As he would teach others later: “What you do is create a vision of who you want to be and then live that picture as if it were already true.”

And that’s exactly what he did from his humble beginnings. He envisioned himself in America. He envisioned himself as a bodybuilding champ. He envisioned himself as a leader. 

Because of that, he became a seven-time Mr. Olympia. Winning it six times back to back. Then he made an unexpected comeback when he entered the competition years later at the last minute. He scoped out the competition. He thought he could win. And so he did. 

He made it to America and became one of the highest-paid actors of his time. His movies became cult classics. His name recognizable around the world. 

And finally, he seized the moment when Gray Davis got recalled and became the Governor of California. 

He had a simple secret — visualize your success, make up your mind to be great, and then do it. 

It’s not easy. But it’s what is required.

We all talk a lot about being willing to do whatever it takes. About going that extra mile. About working while everyone else is sleeping.

But besides all the inspirational stories and feel-good mantras, what do you do when you have a vision, but don’t know what to do next.

How do you get back up? How do you know when you should break the rules or follow them? Getting good at getting back up is a skill you’re going to need to master — no matter what you are trying to achieve or how big your goal might be.

Here are a few ways to do that:

Realize that your failure isn’t the end of the world. You’re just like every other amazing person who accomplished something of note.Spend some time with a notepad and pen digging into why you think you failed. Don’t play nice with yourself. Dig into the cause of why things didn’t work out.Take time to blow off some steam. Physical exercise sharpens your mind and forces you to step back and think a bit more honestly about what just happened.Put together a shortlist of people who could help you avoid failure in the future. They could be an expert in your craft or just inspiring people who keep you grounded and excited.Plan out your next attempt towards success using your new knowledge of what won’t work. Dive into the details and challenge yourself to give everything you have to this next go-around.Allocate time each day to learning, reading, and growing. You need to refill all of the emotional fuel that you are burning in your pursuit of greatness. That’s where a good book comes inHire a great coach or find an accountability partner. It’s easier to spot problems in someone else’s life than it is to uncover weaknesses in your own.Do one small thing each day that you can call a success. It might be calling a friend or researching a new idea or just heading back into the office for a few extra hours of effort.Make time each day for introspection, meditation, or quietness. Often your hustle masks the real problems. When you stop and think, your dream becomes an obsession and you automatically figure out where is to get closer to where you want to be.

There’s no easy pathway to success. Not for Arnold. Not for you. There is no easy, automatic plan that will help you feel better when you’ve experienced epic failure. 

It’s never going to feel good to lose. And you’re never going to be completely comfortable being uncomfortable. 

If you’re not going to give up, then the only other thing you can do is press forward. You don’t have to stay beaten. You don’t need to let the brokenness of your current situation become your life-long story. 

Love yourself enough to keep trying. Believe in yourself enough to do what it takes. 

There is no substitute for heart and determination and will.

The post Why Arnold Broke Into His Home Town Gym And The Secret To Getting Back Up When Things Go Wrong. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt.

The big day finally arrived,

Dan was fueled with excess energy. He was nervous. More restless than anything.

Just hours before his race, Dan rode the stationary bike at an alarming speed and then jumped off it to go outside and take a brisk run in the below-freezing temperatures outside.

When it was finally time for him to line up for his 1000 meter race, Dan still felt “off.” It wasn’t until he heard, “Go!” that he felt like he was good.

He skated. And skated. And skated. As he passed his coach on each round, he looked for his time. He could quickly do the math and see that he was ahead of his own record. He was feeling good.

Then he slipped again. 

Like so many times before, his dream of any Olympic medal came crashing down around him.

It was a continuation of his twisted record of high expectations meeting disappointing results.

Dan Jansen grew up in a big Wisconsin family. Not just big. Huge. He was the youngest of 9 children. They did everything together growing up, including ice skating.

All of the Jansen kids ice skated at one time or another. They trained rigorously in the wind and snow during the winter. And played various other sports during every other season.

But it was Dan who was obsessed.

All he could think about was skating. 

At 16, Dan set a Junior World Record in the 500m and came in 16th in the 1000 meter. His next stop was the Olympics.

Dan gave up the “other sports” and made up his mind to be an Olympian. 

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Far from it. For every up in Dan Jansen’s life, there was a down, it seemed.

When he was just finally ready to compete, he sliced a tendon on a skate in a freak accident in his hotel room.

He would have to take six weeks off from training. 

After that, he trained and trained and trained for the World Cup in Holland.

And just when he thought he was ready to win, he lost his strength.

His legs would barely carry him around the ice. In despair, he watched his competitors glide past him. 

He had mononucleosis — a virus that drains your energy and enlarges your spleen. It would be life-threatening if not treated.

It was clear. He had to rest. 

It took more rest than he expected, but Dan was finally healed.

And so he returned to training. He was determined to make the best of his situation and qualified for the 1988 Olympic trials. He was ready to compete again. He was ready to win.  

But nothing would be easy in his world.

Just eleven months earlier, his baby sister, Jane, had been diagnosed with leukemia.

She had been in and out of treatment and remission for the year leading up to Dan’s Olympic Games, and the two laughed and talked of Dan’s gold medal.

But when it came time for Dan to leave to go to Calgary, where he would compete, he was torn.

Jane had recently been re-admitted to the hospital. Her health was deteriorating. But it had deteriorated before and she bounced back.

Jane told Danto go. She would bounce back again.  

Dan believed her. His sister wanted him to go.

He kissed Jane and told her he’d see her when he got back — with a medal. 

But that wasn’t to be.

His goodbye would be the last time Dan saw Jane. 

It was six in the morning when Dan got a phone call from home. Less than 12 hours before he would compete in his event.

It was his mother on the phone: “Jane died, DJ. She was just too weak to make it.” 

Dan cried. He cried on the way back to his room. He cried when he told his roommate, who also knew Jane. Then they cried together. 

But deep down, Dan knew he had to go on.

So when it was his turn, he lined up at the start for the 500-meter speedskate. Pale-faced. Zoned out. Heartbroken.

And then he jumped. It was a false start. Dan had never had a false start in his career.

He lined up again. Waiting. Thinking of Jane. His sister. His best friend. 

He mindlessly started the race of his life. Jane’s race.

But his loss was too heavy. He tried to give it his all, but something inside of him told him he didn’t deserve to win.

And then it was like death just sneaked up behind him and kicked his left skate out from under him. Dan went down, taking his opponent with him.

They both quickly got back up, but Dan’s Olympic medal was gone. 

When the race was over, Dan beat himself up. First for not winning. Then for worrying about not winning when his sister just died.

He was sad. He was confused. He felt defeated. Mentally and physically. 

But he still had the 1000 meter event.

On the outside, Dan had it all together. He looked confident. And ready.

He started the race confidently. He made all the hardest turns expertly.

But on the last 200 meters, on a straightaway, Dan rolled over too far on the outer edge of his skate and hit the ice. He was down.

Dan Jansen’s 1988 Olympic Games were over. The easiest part of the race became his undoing. Another devastating “down” moment.

Dan flew home with his family to bury Jane. He justified his Olympic loss by telling others that, “It wasn’t right that I should win a medal when my sister was not yet buried.” 

He grieved — but he continued to train. For the next 50 months.

He made it to the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. But he only finished 4th in the 500 and finished 26th in the 1000. Again, he went home without a medal. 

After six months of intense work, Dan felt as if he was able to do what had been impossible for him to this point.

It was time to win an Olympic gold. 

Between 1992 and 1994, Dan skated the 500 in less than 36 seconds. Four times.

He was the only skater to ever do that.

He was finally ready for the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer.  The best speed skater in the world.

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Dan would win this event. But if history was an indicator of nothing else in Dan’s life, it certainly indicated that he would go down.

And that’s exactly what happened.

The ice was brittle. Dan’s skates wouldn’t grip just right. The ice chipped away.

He wobbled. Lost speed. And didn’t place in his best event. 

Dan was mentally broken again. He felt like a failure.

Worse, he was surrounded by hundreds of supporters who expected him to blow away the competition.

But it was the words of his therapist, Dr. Loehr, that were top of mind for him: “You can go down, but just make sure you come back up.” 

That’s exactly where Dan found himself in this 1000 meter race. He had slipped again. At another Olympic event. 

Remembering the words of Dr. Loehr, he refused to let it get in his head.

It was a slip. Not a fall.

He recovered and kept on moving. Lap after lap after lap.

He entered the last 50 meters, no knowing what his time was, but the crowd was deafening. Their cheers were outrageous, so he knew it must be good.

He crossed the finish line. In first place.  

Behind his name on the leaderboard were two letters: WR.

Not only did Dan Jansen win a gold medal. He broke the World Record in 1000 meter speed skating by .11 seconds.

He took his victory lap with his 8-month-old daughter who he named after his sister, Jane. He finally won Jane’s gold. 

You won’t understand the joy of winning until you’ve failed along the way.

That’s the uncomfortable truth about success.

You’re going to get hurt. You’re going endure falls, slips, setbacks, and pain. People you love are going to experience hardship — and you’re going to have to watch, knowing you can’t do anything about it.

Ordinary people give up. They look at the consequences of trying and decide that they aren’t willing to face the battle another day. They make excuses for quitting. They chase another tactic that seems less painful.

But champions know that on the other side of heartbreak is everlasting glory.

That world record, that multi-million dollar payday, that romance of a lifetime, that business you’ve always wanted to start, that bold move you’ve been waiting an entire lifetime to make — that only happens once you face the demons of failure, pain, and emotional tragedy.

If you’re in a “down” moment right now, get back up. Your world isn’t over. The prize you wish to win isn’t gone. You’re not dead. You’ve just been bloodied and bruised.  

So stand back up. Get back to work. Train. Work. Push. Grind. Fight.

Your best is yet to come.

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