#12: The discipline of an Olympic athlete
Usain Bolt's partying, Sha'Carri's smoking weed and Stacy's ready to get back in the game!
Bartender, two shots of Mind Eraser to celebrate your girl being #fullyvaxxed, please! We might not be able to fully erase the memory of the past year, but at least this is a start.
Usain Bolt loves to party. On any given night during the peak of his career, you’d be likely to find him living it up at one of Jamaica’s hottest parties or clubs. I know because I was in college in Kingston back then, and I saw him at a few, myself.
Yet, I watched an interview Usain did late last year where he spoke about how much he had to cut back on partying and other distractions he loved when it was time to train for his next big race. Thanks to his coach, he came to realize that becoming the Fastest Man in the World wasn’t just about being talented and running fast, it was about having discipline.
Which brings me to Sha’Carri Richardson - the American runner who may be disqualified from the Olympics due to testing positive for marijuana.
It’s painful to watch how things have gone down with her these past few days. Coming so close to a dream and watching it slip from your hands due to something entirely in your control, especially when you’re dealing with other personal issues - I can’t imagine how badly she must feel.
But it doesn’t change the rules.
Even if she or her supporters believe that weed shouldn’t be banned, the fact is that it is. And you can campaign to change those rules, sure. But breaking the rules you knew about, and getting outraged about it after the fact, is not the way to do it. Sha’Carri seems to understand this. I’m not sure why her supporters don’t.
At the end of the day, being an Olympic athlete requires discipline and sacrifice. Things will happen in your personal life - it’s inevitable. But you can’t let it affect you come game time. That’s the job. And if you can’t do the job, then maybe it’s not for you.
What I’m up to these days…
Yep, I’m bringing this segment of the newsletter back. Why? Because I have some news!
For the rest of the year, I’ll be actively working on publishing templates and tools to help freelancers and solopreneurs operate more efficiently. Most importantly, you guys will be the first to get access to, and discounts on, any tool I release. So if that interests you, stick around…
OMG have you seen this?
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