London - NSW Institute of Sport

More documents

Recommendations

Info

JeReMy ROLLesTON “A man is not old until regrets start taking the place of dreams” Unexpected Curve stORy JeReMy ROLLesTON phOtOs GeTTy IMAGes There I am at the top of the controversial and notorious bobsleigh track at Whistler in Canada during my second Winter Olympic Games. I am in the best physical and mental shape of my life. I know I’m ready to perform. I am nervous, but in fact, overall I am much calmer than I expected to be. It is a good sign. It is a beautiful night, and the crowds are large and vocal. I can hear them cheering and the cow bells ringing, but I only half hear the noise, like a dull sound in the back of my head. This was what I’d trained so hard for: to proudly represent myself and my country at the Olympic Games once again and to break my Australian record. These moments only come around every four years, if you’re lucky and everything goes to plan in terms of performances and injuries. I am the last sled to go off during the first heat. As we explode off from the start, I feel strong and powerful, like I am pushing well. I’m ready to have the race of my life. I jump into the sled... and then my nightmare begins. Before I know it I am surrounded by medics after having crashed and slid the whole way down the track on my head. Ten days earlier the track had tragically claimed the life of Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili. I am fine physically but I am crushed. I can’t believe it. I get out of the sled wishing the ground could open up and swallow me whole. Why me?! Why now at the Olympics?! Why here in front of the whole world?! Why would my equipment fail me in such a way, something that had never happened in my entire career to date?! Why?! I deserve better! And I’m much better than this! I was so ready. Surely this cannot be my Olympic Games. No! Oh please let the ground swallow me up! It was this devastating crash of mine, in the two-man bobsleigh at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, that was the catalyst for leading me down an expected and different path - writing a book! But let me first rewind a little bit... As I worked through my disappointment and answered everybody’s inevitable questions, I was surprised by people’s reactions. I realised that there was something that many people didn’t intuitively understand that makes a big difference in so many ways. I want to share some thoughts on this with you. 20 // the edge // nswis.com.au THE Rolleston is a two time Olympian having also competed at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympic Games A LIFE THAT A LIFE THAT COUNTS COUNTS JEREMY ROLLESTON Two-time Olympian Jeremy Rolleston invites you to join the inner circle and learn the secrets behind the success of ten famous Australians Lydia Lassila, Dick Smith, James Tomkins, Gai Waterhouse, Louise Sauvage, Matthew Burke, Matt Shirvington, Michael Milton, Jason Stevens, Alexandra Croak Jeremy Rolleston Featuring contributions from Australian legends such as Gai Waterhouse, James Tomkins, Matt Burke, Louise Sauvage, Lydia Lassila, Matt Shirvington, Jason Stevens, Dick Smith, Michael Milton & Alex Croak. You see how many of us have dreams? Everyone. But how many really chase their dreams? Very few. So what’s the missing link? What holds most people back? It is our fears and our limiting mindsets. Our fears that we may fail. Our fears that we may not be good enough. The limitations we place on ourselves that hold us back. The voices in our head, either from ourselves or other people, telling us we can’t do that, or shouldn’t do that. Other people’s opinions that we take on as our reality as if they define our future. Our fear that we might put all that effort in, the time, energy, sacrifice, money, blood, sweat and tears, and yet things may not work out like we dream they will. I will always be disappointed by how things turned out in Vancouver. In fact, I couldn’t have scripted things worse if I’d tried! And what’s more, I’m not sure that I’ll ever stop being disappointed when I think of my Olympics in Vancouver. But here’s the point, there is a big difference between disappointment and regret. I don’t regret all the hard work, all the financial sacrifice, all the commitment. I don’t regret giving up a great job in investment banking that I enjoyed, in order to follow my heart. I don’t regret qualifying for my second Games. I don’t regret helping my teammates qualify for their first Olympics. Disappointment? Yes, absolutely. Regret? No, they’re different. This leads me back to my book, A Life That Counts. In it I decided to share my own learnings as well as the lessons and advice of ten famous and high-achieving Australians on following your dreams, success, reaching our potential, and living a life that counts. One of the many topics we covered was regret and daring to dream. Here’s what some famous Australian Olympians had to say. When former NSWIS athlete Matt Shirvington reflected on his career he explained, “I think to myself there are expectations that should have been fulfilled in my career. I should have been the first white man to run under 10 seconds. I should have made the Olympic final in Sydney... that’s frustrating... but the opportunity and the success I’ve had far outweigh any regret or any ill-thought when I look back on my career. I’ve been so blessed by the timing of my career ... and its also opened up other opportunities I never would have had.”
Jeremy Rolleston, author of A Life That Counts Rolleston (behind) in action at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games JeReMy ROLLesTON “I really think it’s important to have no regrets whatsoever,” said NSWIS diver Alex Croak on chasing her Olympic dream. “Right now, I could think, what if I don’t make the next Olympics in London 2012, because there’s always the chance I’ll miss out. People say, ‘you can’t go along thinking that,’ but that’s a reality. I may miss out despite all my hard work. It’s not 100 per cent guaranteed I’m going to make it. So, when I try and think about how I’d cope if I didn’t make the Olympics . . . if I’ve given my all, I have no regrets. I tried my best. “It sounds so clichéd, but really, all you can do is put yourself in the best possible position to achieve what you want to achieve. That’s all you can ask for, and if you make it, then you make it, and if you don’t make it, then you know you’ve done everything you could do. That goes for sport and for everything outside of sport as well.” Three-time Olympic gold medallist, James Tomkins puts it this way. “It’s that whole thing of getting 10 years down the track and looking back and saying, ‘If only I’d have done that!’” And therein lies the lesson that I believe many people don’t intuitively understand. A lesson that is useful to us in our sporting endeavours but also in our lives post sport; you’ll always be more disappointed by the things you don’t do than by the things you do. If you don’t chase your dreams or if you don’t go after them with everything you have, you’ll always think about it and wonder,”what if?” You’ll wonder whether you could have or would have achieved it. It will gnaw away at you and eat you up inside. In contrast, if you have the guts to go after your dreams with everything you have, you’ll have no regrets regardless of the outcome, whether you win the gold medal or whether things couldn’t have turned out worse, as they did for me. Trust me; it’s easier to deal with disappointment than regret! This appreciation and understanding of the difference between disappointment and regret will then also help you in your future transition from sport to life post sport. Why? Because you won’t have regrets gnawing at you as you embrace life after competing. Absolutely, preparing early for life post-sport is crucial as it will help you avoid the situation where, before you know it, you are cast on the athletic scrap heap once the lights go out on your sporting career. For any athlete, this difficult time challenges the core of our identity because so much is linked to our sport; our worth, the sport itself that we love, the limelight, an outlet for our competitive drive, our social circle and our support networks. (No wonder a huge percentage of athletes say they believe they suffer depression in retirement). So as you chase your dreams, ponder the thoughts and advice from these amazing athletes as well as my own story. A story of highs and lows, of successes and failures. Of disappointment, but no regrets. And that makes all the difference, both now and post-sport! Jeremy’s book, A Life That Counts, is available at http://www. alifethatcounts.com.au. n nswis.com.au // the edge // 21
Page 1 and 2: Issue 20 JuNe 2011 THe OFFICIAL MAG
Page 3 and 4: CEO’s Message t is an exciting ti
Page 5 and 6: Matthew Mitcham (R) matches up with
Page 7 and 8: as n 2012 oneWenlock transport infr
Page 9 and 10: “I remember when we were all sitt
Page 11 and 12: NsWIs athlete Kyah simon hopes to s
Page 13 and 14: the daunting task of refocusing on
Page 15 and 16: “I couldn’t be happier (with ho
Page 17 and 18: Book a campus tour today Applicatio
Page 19 and 20: “He has worked extremely hard to
Page 21: NSWIS Sport Psychologist Patsy Trem
Page 25 and 26: Blackburn’s sporting success is o
Page 27 and 28: Follow @theNSWIS on All the latest
Page 29 and 30: Jessica Fox, the 2010 Out & About M
Page 31 and 32: Recovery THE Nap stORy CHRIs JONes
Page 33 and 34: JUnE n 14 - 19 June 2011 - 2011 FIN
Page 35 and 36: Proudly supported by The New South

London - NSW Institute of Sport

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?