SG: How did that change as you developed and moved through increasingly challenging levels of competition?
JN: Now, as an adult, I define motivation as, "The excitement and enthusiasm you get whenever you imagine what it's going to feel like when your personal dream actually comes true." I realized that whenever I lost sight of my dream (or lost sight in its achievability), I lost my motivation, so the easiest way to get it back was to imagine the dream coming true. The goose-bumps would return, and that feeling helped me get back into the workout, the meet or the regimen necessary to succeed.
SG: You are a multiple Olympic Gold Medallist. How did this affect your drive as a swimmer - and as a person?
JN: Winning Olympic medals had little or no impact on my drive as a swimmer. While I am proud of that achievement, it was the records (best times) that kept me moving forward. Clearly, my success in Montreal opened many doors for me (in broadcasting, writing and speaking) but whenever I focus on my past achievements, I find my drive diminishing. Drive is the desire to accomplish something, and each personal best time instilled in me the hope of even better results still to come!
SG: Now that you are a successful businessman, what is your outlook on motivation?
JN: I think it was John Wooden who said you don't need the will to win (everybody has that). You need the will to prepare to win. Motivation gives us the will to prepare to win, by making the price easy to pay. By expecting results, the pain, long hours or temporary setbacks become easy to endure.
SG: Your book, "Awaken the Olympian Within" is a collection of inspirational and motivating stories from Olympians. How can these stories help us achieve our goals and dreams?
JN: By reading the stories from champions who have traveled our roads before us, we can learn what to expect, and how to avoid some pitfalls that might entrap our competition. The essays these Olympians (all motivational speakers) shared in the book are both entertaining and insightful, and can appeal to just about anyone.
By applying the principles that these Olympians embody, we get an automatic "leg up" on life. Sports should be used as an analogy for life. Victory on the playing field is wasted if it does not contribute to the better character of the individual. Why be successful in sports if it does not help us become successful in life?
SG: How do you, as an Olympian, motivate others?
JN: After I set my first American record in swimming, my coach, George French was immediately inundated with offers to speak at swimming clinics around the country. He said his knowledge had not increased, but my success gave the other coaches something else from which to learn. Most athletes mimic the techniques of the current champions or record holders. As a result, I try to live my live in a manner that is educative and inspirational to others, (I do see myself as a role model) and I try to articulate the better life-lessons to a wider audience (broadcasting, speaking, teaching). I am a mentor to other Olympians in the business of speaking and broadcasting.
SG: What is the role of the Olympics and its athletes in inspiring the rest of us in our daily lives, both in and out of the sporting arena?
JN: Any athlete that wants a "swim suit deal," an endorsement contract or an invitation to speak, must acknowledge their responsibility as a role model. Olympians need to realize that we are members of a very exclusive club to which membership cannot be granted, purchased or bestowed. We earned it! This can make us heroes to our entire country (not unlike astronauts and war heroes). With this opportunity comes a great responsibility, not to be taken lightly.
As I say in the foreword of the book "Awaken the Olympian Within", Olympic champions are not extraordinary people, we are ordinary people who have accomplished extraordinary things in a limited area of our lives. If we can do it, so can others, and it is the teaching of that fact that allow us to become real role models.
SG:Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us today, John. Your incite and views on attitude and motivation will be very helpful to the About Swimming readers. To hear more great motivational stories from Olympians, get the book "Awaken the Olympian Within" - and get to it.
