Olympic Skating Lessons

By Kelly Clark / Carry On

Comments
  • Apply Olympic skating lessons to off-ice pursuits
  • Tessa’s gold-medal approach can help you lose weight
  • When is the only time you can change your life?

I love watching anyone perform at a high level. The commitment necessary to get to the top is inspiring. When high achievers are interviewed, you can gain a lot of insight into how they reach goals. Then you can apply their strategies to your own goals.

What can we learn from Tessa and Scott?

Canada’s sweethearts, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, offer so much more than their tight and entertaining on-ice performances. Jian Ghomeshi interviewed Tessa and Scott in Sochi for CBC. There were many Olympic skating lessons to be learned that can be applied off the ice.

For instance, Jian asked Tessa if they build a lot of confidence if everything goes right at the start of their routine. Tessa replied:

One of our other goals was to not let ourselves get distracted if it didn’t go extremely well within that first minute or two…

-One of Tessa Virtue’s Olympic skating lessons

What a powerful strategy! For the 10 years I struggled to lose weight I never took this productive approach. I tended to fixate on mistakes and beat myself up for them. The result? I made things worse instead of better. Now I know if you focus on the negative, you end up sabotaging the situation. Whereas when you put your energy behind the next positive thing you can do, you salvage the situation. It’s better to have something complete with mistakes today, than plan to do something perfectly, tomorrow.

Here’s more of Tessa’s Olympic skating lessons applied to losing weight.

Olympic skating lessons can be applied to any goal

When working toward a healthy weight, set yourself up for success by:

1. Dividing goals into smaller goals
Tessa and Scott broke their performance into baby steps. Then they could focus on one small part at a time. We can apply this same approach to weight loss.For example, just focus on the meal you’re eating. And feel good about making one small and positive change to that meal rather than worrying about everything you need to change to lose weight.

2. Continuing on toward goals even if things don’t go right
Tessa and Scott made the goal to not get distracted by mistakes. This is all about staying on track. And another lesson to apply to reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.

The decision to carry on toward your goals when things haven’t gone to plan, makes it easier to make your next choice positive. People often say “I’ve already wrecked my diet so I may as well have another piece of cake.” It’s not the mistake that sets us back, but how we handle the mistake. It’s important we keep our energy focused in a positive way after doing something we regret.

What do both Olympic skating lessons teach us?

Both Olympic skating lessons are about focusing your energy on the only place you can actually make a difference: The moment you’re in right now.

Don’t look too far ahead in the future or get hung up on mistakes from the past. Focus on right now. It’s a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s Interview

Some of Tessa Virtue’s Olympic skating lessons can be found at 6:20.

 

 

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Have you ever applied a sport analogy like these Olympic skating lessons to weight loss?

Are there other Olympic skating lessons you learned by watching athletes?

What other goals, beyond weight loss, can these Olympic skating lessons be applied to?

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