Hi there,

Happy Monday!

Here is your weekly dose of The Monday 3: a quote, an insight and an action I’m taking from the last week.

I’d love you to forward this to one person who might find it useful.

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A quote I’m pondering

“We’re embarrassed about things we should be proud of and proud of things we should be embarrassed about.”

Jerry Seinfeld

Duke University 2024 Commencement Address

An insight from conversation

Amazing to watch the Olympics come to a close today. What a couple of weeks! So many highs, lows and inspiring human stories. Huge congratulations to all the athletes, coaches, support staff, organisers and everyone involved. It is such an enormous effort. As Tim Hamill, a great mate of mine and the coach of the Australian Men’s Water Polo team in Paris said: “It’s been one heck of a ride.”

I’ve spoken to a few Olympians over the two weeks to see how they felt about their own Olympic experience at the time and how they feel about it now, looking back.

There were many conversations about dismissing the accomplishment in the short term. Mainly this seemed to be because of disappointment with personal or team results. (With 10,000+ athletes competing and only 3 medals in each event, it makes some sense.)

But then gradually with reflection, sometimes decades later, people have reconnected to the experience and were able to find appreciation, pride and a sense of peace in what they did and the effort they put in.

That gradual shift has certainly been my experience too. (Here are some articles I’ve written about it if you’re interested: My Olympic Inspiration, Toughest Moment, Filling The Olympic Void, Gratitude – Embracing The Hardest Part)

When we train ourselves to focus solely on improving the black dot on the white page, it can be challenging and take some time to expand our perspective and appreciate the whole.

Would it be easier for the medal winners? I’m not sure. I’ll keep asking.

I genuinely hope that the current batch of athletes (and coaches) get to the appreciation stage sooner rather than later. I’m insanely proud of them for not just what they did, but also how they did it. That’s the truly inspiring thing for me from the Games.

An action I’m taking

I’ve had a bit of a cold this last week, so action became non-action. I dropped the girls at school one morning and went back to bed for 2.5hrs. I’ve also enjoyed making a home brew tea of chopped fresh turmeric, a big squeeze of lemon and some honey. Delicious!

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Is there one of these that really stood out for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions too.

I hope you have a great week ahead.

With love,

Toby

Executive Coach, Speaker and Author

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