For the past two weeks I have been motivated, inspired, and sometimes saddened by the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. The Games were a welcome pause—an oasis from the noise of the season. They did not disappoint. There were plenty of feats worth watching. Now that the hoopla has faded, I have been thinking about what those two weeks meant, and what you might take from them as you go after your own brilliance.
Three moments, three lessons.
1. Purpose
After the commercials in the opening ceremony, my first lift was Michael Phelps carrying the U.S. flag. Fellow Team USA athletes chose him. The public case was straightforward: he was already the most decorated Olympian in history. Phelps himself framed Rio differently. He had come back from retirement a new father, and he said this time was about more than medals—representing the country and making his family proud.
By the end of the swimming meet he had added to that record. His career total stood at 23 gold medals.
Clarity of purpose did not replace the work in the pool. It gave the work a reason.
Lesson: Purpose runs deeper than the hardware.
Ask: What is yours? What are you doing to find it and live it?
2. Competition and collaboration at the same time
Simone Biles and Aly Raisman in the all-around was required viewing. Teammates could have treated each other as rivals. Instead they held hands walking from event to event. After Biles won gold and Raisman silver, they talked about the pressure: they kept telling each other they loved each other and kept hugging—“something you need” on a day like that.
Biles later told ESPN she was more proud of Aly’s silver than of her own gold: Raisman had fought through a comeback, and there was no one she would rather share the podium with.
That is not softness. That is two people making each other better.
Lesson: Real winning uses both competition and support.
Ask: Where do you compete, and where do you collaborate? Who steadies you? Whom do you steady?
3. Work hard. Celebrate with a clear head.
I almost skipped this one. Almost everyone I talked to had an opinion about the U.S. swimmers’ late-night celebration in Rio and the story that followed. The pile-on can go on forever. The useful part is simpler.
Victory takes hard work in every part of life. Celebration matters more than we admit—if it includes a pause. What do you want to repeat? What would you do differently? That is how a win turns into wisdom. Some young Olympians likely wished they had done more of the second and less of the first.
Lesson: Aim, work, then celebrate in a way that includes reflection.
Ask: How is the goal going? What does the work itself teach you? Has it sharpened your purpose?
Good luck with the oversized dream. Pursue the thing you care about. Compete and collaborate. Support people. When you win, leave room to think.
Here’s to gold that still means something the next morning.