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Gold Medal Mindset

August 11, 2015Mike SisselBlog

gold medalThe year was 1983.  I left the boys locker room and walked cautiously toward the small gym at Memorial Middle School, my mind flooded with thoughts of doubt and uncertainty.  My worst nightmare was about to become a reality.  Mrs. Fallis’ sixth grade gymnastics unit would culminate in a series of ability tests on various apparatus.  Staring me in the face as I entered the gym was the dreaded vault.  Equipped with a heavy dose of pessimism, I tried to collect my breath.  What followed were four words that had recently become a fixture in my internal dialogue – “I can’t do it.”  Not surprisingly, I failed miserably and my downward spiral of self-confidence quickly gained momentum.

Fast forward thirty two years and I find myself standing in front of a room full of gymnastics coaches, speaking to them about the importance of mental toughness in athletics.  The sixth grade boy who had cringed at the very thought of failure was now empowering coaches to be strong in the face of adversity.  To call it a full circle moment would be an understatement.

Just prior to my presentation, I listened to the owner of the gym, Olympic Gold Medalist Amanda Borden-Cochran, speak passionately about the importance of teaching life through gymnastics.  It was crystal clear that she was aware of the stark reality that only a small fraction of gymnasts would ever achieve gold medal status in the Olympics.  With this notion in mind, she articulated her mission to prepare her gymnasts for life beyond gymnastics.  A life that will drastically improve with the possession of a much different kind of gold medal; a Gold Medal Mindset. 

Below are five Gold Medal Mindset skills you can begin practicing today.

Don’t wait for your mood to change, create it. 

It’s easy to blame our mood on various circumstances (e.g. I’m upset because of him/her).  The fact is that our mood is influenced more by the quality of our thinking than it is our circumstances.  Think of each of your moods as energy.  Anger, jealousy, and disappointment are all forms of mental energy.  You have the power to change the energy by simply changing your thinking.  If you find yourself in a bad mood, try replacing your disempowering thoughts with thoughts of gratitude.  You can’t be angry and grateful at the same time. 

Always be better than you were the day before. 

Let’s face it.  The social mirror would have us believe that in order to be successful we must climb to a certain status on the proverbial totem pole.  We must have better scores, better looks, or better possessions in order to achieve success.  This is what we’re conditioned to believe.  It’s all a big lie.  The only person you need to be better than is the person you were yesterday.  You see, God gave each of us a unique obstacle course, designed to prepare us for our own journey.  What good does it do to look at someone else’s obstacle course?

Practice relentless optimism.

Contrary to what some may say, optimism is not simply adopting a Pollyanna approach to life.  Rather, it’s a relentless pursuit to find the most empowering thought in any given situation, all the while accepting what is.  We can’t just look at the weed in the yard and imagine it’s not there.  We must own the fact that the weed exists and work at removing the root of the problem, which in most cases is our ineffective thinking. 

Expect to win, but embrace your losses.

Believe it or not, there is a tremendous source of power in failure.  A Gold Medal Mindset expects success, but is also equipped to be strong in the face of adversity.  Failure is not final, it’s simply a result.  Look at the failure head on and seek to find the hidden lessons that are present in every failure.  There is no such thing as an overnight success.  Every road to success is paved with failure. 

Always maintain a growth mindset.

I mentioned before that the words “I can’t do it,” became a fixture in my internal dialogue.  What I failed to realize is that my fixed mindset was essentially stopping me dead in my tracks with regard to taking any future risks.  A growth mindset simply means that your success is not predicated on ingrained intellectual or academic abilities, but rather your ability to practice life skills such as resilience and grit.  When you catch yourself saying the words “I can’t,” I invite you to add one word to this statement – the word yet.  “I can’t” is permanent and implies finality.  “Yet” is temporary and implies possibility.      

A Gold Medal Mindset is within your reach.  I look forward to seeing you stand on the podium of success.  By the way, don’t worry about having to perform on the vault.  It’s not a prerequisite for a Gold Medal Mindset.  Thank goodness!

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“Mike has an amazing ability to reach our children and to challenge their thinking. His positive outlook and desire to help every child be the best they can be is inspiring. My daughter comes home from her time with him with a smile on her face and new words of wisdom to share with me.  My 13 year old son watches his motivational videos and every time turns to me and says "He is so right. Everything he is saying is so true".  So thankful to have him in my children's lives.”  
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“The power of positivity is infectious and Mr. Sissel has a real gift of helping others believe that they have the mental strength within themselves to get past whatever they might be struggling with. We were introduced to Mike through Gold Medal Gymnastics and seeing the impact he has made on the lives of so many including our daughter is astounding. He helped her to overcome the feelings of insecurity, feeling bullied and showed her how to focus and 'change her lens' so that she could perform successfully.”  
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“Having been in the coaching profession for many years, I’ve gained the most satisfaction by having the opportunity to help shape the character of my players, ultimately preparing them for life beyond baseball. Mike Sissel is a masterful coach who shares a similar passion for the 'game of life'. His ability to connect with athletes is unmatched. If you have an opportunity for Mike to work with your team, it will truly be the 'gift' that will keep on giving. He has been a blessing to my family.”

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“Having been in the coaching profession for many years, I’ve gained the most satisfaction by having the opportunity to help shape the character of my players, ultimately preparing them for life beyond baseball. Mike Sissel is a masterful coach who shares a similar passion for the 'game of life'. His ability to connect with athletes is unmatched. If you have an opportunity for Mike to work with your team, it will truly be the 'gift' that will keep on giving. He has been a blessing to my family.”
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“Mike Sissel is an amazing man. With a positive force driving his ultimate vision to help the world be a better place, he reminds young and old what it means to be and do good by finding it in within. His practical steps are accessible to children and admired by adults. Whether he facilitates a retreat, in-service, assembly, or consults, positive and tangible results will be the outcome. I highly recommend him!”

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“Mike Sissel is an amazing man. With a positive force driving his ultimate vision to help the world be a better place, he reminds young and old what it means to be and do good by finding it in within. His practical steps are accessible to children and admired by adults. Whether he facilitates a retreat, in-service, assembly, or consults, positive and tangible results will be the outcome. I highly recommend him!”
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“Mr. Sissel has been an incredible positive influence for my kids! Every time he goes to their school they look forward to learning something new from him! I have a teen and preteen and they have had him for the last several years and have quoted his lessons to us at home. Mr. Sissel has a special gift of teaching ALL ages with passion and dedication and truly knows how to connect with his audience, which makes it fun. I have also recommended him as one on one coaching for my dear friend’s son after she went through a divorce and her son was acting out and his insight truly helped her.”

Judy Salinas

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2017-09-14T14:39:25-07:00

Judy Salinas

“Mr. Sissel has been an incredible positive influence for my kids! Every time he goes to their school they look forward to learning something new from him! I have a teen and preteen and they have had him for the last several years and have quoted his lessons to us at home. Mr. Sissel has a special gift of teaching ALL ages with passion and dedication and truly knows how to connect with his audience, which makes it fun. I have also recommended him as one on one coaching for my dear friend’s son after she went through a divorce and her son was acting out and his insight truly helped her.”
https://kaleidoeye.com/testimonials/3596/
“Wow! What an amazing person! We are so fortunate to have Mike Sissel in our lives. Having two daughters that compete, I cannot thank him enough for all of valuable lessons learned. He empowers my girls with tools and strategies to become not only better athletes but better people. He helps them to build strong character traits that will benefit them long after their time in completion has come to an end. He's had a positive influence on the mindset of our entire family and for that we are truly blessed.”

Kim Roberts-Johson

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2017-09-14T15:05:04-07:00

Kim Roberts-Johson

“Wow! What an amazing person! We are so fortunate to have Mike Sissel in our lives. Having two daughters that compete, I cannot thank him enough for all of valuable lessons learned. He empowers my girls with tools and strategies to become not only better athletes but better people. He helps them to build strong character traits that will benefit them long after their time in completion has come to an end. He's had a positive influence on the mindset of our entire family and for that we are truly blessed.”
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“Mr Sissel has been such an unbelievably positive presence both at Gold Medal Gymnastics and at our daughter's school, CEE. There is always enthusiasm and excitement when she knows that they will be having a session with him. The topics that he addresses are so important and he helps the kids see not only life's big picture, but also how individually they can make a real difference for themselves and those around them with their choices. We are thankful and look forward to more work with him in the future.”

 

Margo Ingram

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2017-09-14T15:04:38-07:00

Margo Ingram

“Mr Sissel has been such an unbelievably positive presence both at Gold Medal Gymnastics and at our daughter's school, CEE. There is always enthusiasm and excitement when she knows that they will be having a session with him. The topics that he addresses are so important and he helps the kids see not only life's big picture, but also how individually they can make a real difference for themselves and those around them with their choices. We are thankful and look forward to more work with him in the future.”  
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