When I'm done skating, I guarantee you that I will not look back and remember standing on the podium. I'm going to remember these days - being with the team. Training alone, in my basement. Training when everybody else is sleeping. Doing things that nobody else is doing. Digging down. Seeing what kind of character I truly have. I love that stuff.
Interpretation
True success is found in the journey and the hard work behind it, not just in accolades.
Apolo Ohno reflects on the value of the experiences and struggles he faced during training over the external validation of achievements like standing on a podium. He emphasizes that the essence of character and growth is forged in moments of dedication and solitude, highlighting that the camaraderie with his team and the discipline of training are what he truly cherishes.
In practice
In a motivational speech to young athletes emphasizing the importance of hard work over trophies.
I never had one day that I didn't want to be on the ice, because I always had an objective for that day. I had a rigorous plan and schedule in place that I had to adhere to. It was a step-by-step process of slowly but surely inching toward the Olympic Games and using every day as a series of goals to be accomplished.
Winning does not always mean coming in first...real victory is in arriving at the finish line with no regrets because you know you've gone all out.
Do I feel any pressure as the most decorated Winter Olympian in American history? None at all. The only pressures that I know I face are those of how to pay it forward: How can I continually make a positive impact in people's lives, help others achieve their dreams, create their own Olympic mindset, creating champions within themselves?
I am a lucky man. I have had a dream and it has come true, and that is not a thing that happens often to men.
Setbacks and losses are both inevitable and essential if you're going to improve and become a good, even great, competitor. The art is in avoiding catastrophic losses in the key battles.
Be willing to use yourself to get out there and put the company on the market. If you have to make a fool of yourself, make a fool of yourself, but make sure that you end up on the front pages, not the back pages. In time, it's possible that your company will stand out from the crowd, and you'll be successful.
As a rule, he or she who has the most information will have the greatest success in life.
I owe my success to the fact that I never had a clock in my workroom. Seventy-five of us worked twenty hours every day and slept only four hours - and thrived on it.
These three things-work, will, success-fill human existences. Will opens the door to success, both brilliant and happy. Work passes these doors, and at the end of the journey success comes in to crown one's efforts.
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