Everybody Has Something To Teach You. The Greatest Athletes of All Time Taught Us These Important Lessons.
Are skill and dedication the only requirements for the best athletes in history to compete at the top levels?
Not precisely.
As per the research conducted by Howe Davidson & Sloboda:
“Success is not determined by innate gifts, as all successful individuals possess those physical characteristics.”
To become exceptional, top performers engage in a process known as intentional practice. We’ll discuss how they achieved it and what you can take away from them in this post.
10. Nadia Comaneci
The International Gymnastic Federation believed that a perfect 10 would never be achieved when creating their code of points.
That is, prior to the arrival of Nadia Comaneci. She stunned everyone by becoming the first gymnast to ever achieve a perfect score at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. She became one of the all-time great athletes after accomplishing this seven times.
To put it into perspective, consider that the scoreboard was set to display “1.00” rather than a perfect 10.
She appeared to be breaking the rules of physics to the audience. It was merely a routine, something she had done thousands of times before.
9. Carl Lewis
He is an American-born athlete who won four straight Olympic titles and simultaneously held the top spot in the world rankings for the long jump and the 100 meters.
What his coach had to say was as follows:
“Carl Lewis used to be praised for his amazing kick but criticized for having a poor start, according to everyone. Completely incorrect! Carl dispersed his energy equally.
What then can we infer from this?
Far too many people believe that excessive effort is the best way to go. A study published by The Business Roundtable claims that working too much is, at best, a waste of time.
8. Lionel Messi
He needs no introduction to football fans everywhere. He is THE best athlete of all time in their eyes.
Messi is the player with the most official documented assists in football history, and he owns the records for most goals in La Liga, the Supercopa de España, and the UEFA Super Cup.
Craig Friedman, director of Athlete’s Performance’s performance innovation team, claims that Messi is “faster with the ball at his feet than the defenders are without the ball.”
The three things that make him the most agile are explosiveness, stability, and technique, and they are the main focus of his training. The best results come from focusing on the precise things that will help you get better.
7. Michael Phelps
Over the course of his competitive swimming career, he broke 39 world records, making him the most successful and decorated Olympian of all time.
Michael Phelps’s coach, Bob Bowman, believes that his mental toughness is what sets him apart.
He puts down his objectives in the form of times for different events, and he visualizes himself swimming the entire distance from the viewpoint of both the spectators and himself.
We have stated this numerous times before. It’s critical to put your goals in writing and to review them frequently to ensure that your mental and physical well-being is always optimal.
6. Serena Williams
Having won multiple Grand Slam single titles, she is among the most accomplished tennis players in history.
more so than any other male or female athlete.
The capacity for adaptation that Serena has developed is a valuable skill.
She stated in an interview with Fitness Magazine:
“I think it’s crucial to vary things up. After running, I went biking. I then used an elliptical. I attempted yoga after that didn’t work out so well because it was dull.
It is crucial to understand when and how to change course when things are not going as planned. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results,” as Albert Einstein once stated.
5. Michael Jordan
We’re going to kick this one off with a favorite quotation from the all-time great athlete:
Over 9,000 shots have been missed by me in my career. I’ve dropped nearly 300 games. I’ve been trusted to attempt the game-winning shot 26 times and failed. I’ve experienced repeated failures throughout my life. That’s the reason I’m successful.
That’s an excellent illustration of perseverance when things don’t go your way. In-depth discussions on how athletes maximize their potential were covered in our premium training program, Goal Mastery.
4. Usain Bolt
From the fastest man alive, what lessons can you learn? There is a great deal of science involved.
The 100-meter sprint is a very fascinating sport because, at its best, it can be broken down into incredibly distinct phases that allow for in-depth analysis. This is because the event lasts less than 10 seconds.
The main lesson here is this: You would suppose that sprinters are extremely fast because they swing their legs more quickly than anybody else. We won’t get too technical.
In actuality, though, it’s due of their harsher landing than everyone else’s that they are so swift.
3. Roger Federer
Let’s examine a another tennis player who has won 82% of his matches thus far. He wasn’t included on this list at random. We would want to talk about a very significant subject, and Roger Federer is the ideal illustration.
You might be crippled by emotions when the stakes are enormous.
Federer was a very impulsive person in his early years and frequently let his feelings to get the better of him.
2. Muhammad Ali
The legendary claim made by Mike Tyson was that he would never lose to Ali in a match.
He was merely a man who played dead. He was not interested in playing. He was overly arrogant. He wouldn’t give up.
Ali was a “man of focus, commitment and sheer f-ing will power,” to borrow a phrase from John Wick.
Although Muhammad Ali detested training, he held the view that it was better to endure the agony now and end up as a champion for the rest of your life.
And occasionally, no matter how much you prepare and think things through, there will be occasions when you just need to push through with sheer willpower.
1. Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzy was never the quickest, strongest, or most athletic hockey player, but we think you’re going to adore this last player on our list.
So how did he go on to become one of the all-time great athletes?
In fact, he was criticized for being “too small, too wiry, and too slow to be a force in the NHL” when he initially joined the league.
In strength testing, he frequently placed bottom and was far weaker than the typical NHL player. In spite of this, he went on to become the all-time best hockey player and, according to some, the greatest human athlete.
He is even depicted in a statue outside the Staples Center.
How, then, did he accomplish this?
Wayne knew his phone number less than the game.
“It’s not instinctual, despite what nine out of ten people believe. While no one would ever claim that a doctor picked up their job by instinct, I have personally studied hockey for almost as long as a medical student studies medicine.
He was so adept at the game and had studied so many moves that he was able to respond quickly to any circumstance. It appeared to his opponents that he had psychic abilities.
He had the ability to foresee events precisely, even before his rivals made their next move. It was hard to surprise him.
