Teachings from the greatest sportspersons of all time – Part II

Coincidentally, all the people discussed in this part of the series are from the USA – Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps and Tiger Woods. All of them have different ideologies to win, but fulfilled their dreams and remained at the top of the rankings despite severe competition.

1) Michael Jordan – He claims to have missed 9000 shots in his career and lost 300 games for Chicago Bulls in the NBA! Yet, he believes that failure is his biggest teacher for it made him succeed eventually. His hard work and persistence is so inspirational indeed! How many of us can actually think in this manner?

He is the symbol of doing anything 100% or not doing anything at all. Jordan was the man who made things happen, being proactive rather than being reactive by waiting for things to happen and that fitted into the Bulls’ strategy exceptionally well.

His win at all costs attitude did make him a bit arrogant, but at the same time extremely optimistic of giving quality performances.

2) Michael Phelps – The most revered swimmer of all time, Phelps suffered from ADHD at a young age, which is the biggest obstacle a professional swimmer has to face since swimming requires a tremendous amount of physical fitness and rigorous practice.

He was also arrested once for drunk driving but apologized almost immediately. He proves that problems there shall be many in life or given by the world to you, but suffering from them is optional.

Ian Thorpe, his biggest competitor did not believe that Phelps would break the world record of eight gold medals in the 2008 Olympics. Instead of getting angry at his competitor-cum-role model which is a general reaction, Phelps used those words as motivation and practiced so hard, that he eventually proved him wrong by achieving virtually the impossible.

3) Tiger Woods – Woods is the richest sportsperson in the world as of June 2013 and remains the poster boy of USA’s world dominance and its values.

Yet, Woods is a strong believer in the fact that one creates his own destiny and he more than anyone else, is responsible for his success or failure. This is why he never accused anyone publicly when an infamous scandal emerged in 2009 of Woods cheating his wife with three other porn stars. He accepted his fault, faced the aftermath and carried on with life.

His practice regime is amongst the best of sportspersons, the Mr Perfectionist of golf that he is. There are no words such as imperfect and defeat in his dictionary. He always focusses on the present, not the past or the future and this is why he is the only name still synonymous to golf.