Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Hamill was one of the greatest professional ice skaters of all time. In 1976, she took first place in the Winter Olympics, U.S. Championships, and World Championships.
Dorothy Hamill seemed to be physically designed to skate, much like a fish is physically designed to swim. During her performances, her movements seemed to flow naturally with incredible precision and coordination.
In her earlier years, Dorothy Hamill didn't always ice skate well. In fact, it took her years and years of practice before she reached her ultimate level of expertise.
Dorothy started ice skating at the age of eight and never stopped. She loved it so much; it was almost like an addiction. She later went on to get formal training to further enhance her skills.
But Dorothy's sheer love of ice skating wasn't enough to catapult her to the top. She needed to be able to handle adversity and move through it.
During the 1974 World Championships held in Germany, Dorothy almost blew it. She abruptly left the ice rink without completing her performance due to a raucous audience. But then later returned, completed her performance, winning her the silver medal.
How you handle adversity decides whether you succeed or fail. If you let adversity discourage you, you will never succeed; since the road to success is always fraught with adversity. Nevertheless, if you let adversity encourage you, you will always succeed. "But how do I let adversity encourage me," you ask.
How adversity affects you depends on how you use your head. You can use your head to think, "I'll never be able to complete my ice-skating performance. The audience is booing, and I can't stand it." This will cause you to quit.
Or you can use your head to think, "So the audience is booing. Big deal. I'll give them something to boo about. I'm going to skate so well that it will overwhelm them. That'll show them." This will cause you to excel.
If you want to learn more in depth ways of using your head to succeed, you need to download
The Athlete's Mind
by former professional athlete David Horne.
Al A. Gammate's main website is at
http://www.theguaranteedcure.com/
