Michael Johnson quotes: lightning-fast feedback… from 400’s father.
“Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best.”
“That first peak is the best place to pause and look back, to see if you took the easiest route, to learn the lessons from the first climb. And it is the best place to examine the terrain ahead, to change your plans and goals, to take a deep breath and begin climbing again.”
“Examine the opportunities, the challenges you’ve given yourself.”
“Don’t shoot for something unattainable, completely outside of your nature or opportunity.”
“Be who you are in every situation.”
“You learn as much from those who have failed as from those who have succeeded.”
“We just have one basic focus. We’re focused on going one direction, and that’s forward.”
“Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity.”
“A good mentor offers directions and driving tips from the back seat. You still have to drive the car.”
“I’m just trying to learn as much as I can every day. I’ve got some great guys in front of me and great coaches around me.”
“I believe that it is better to learn from the diverse people around us than to try in vain to emulate them – better to be a teacher than a role model.”
“Along with trustworthiness, consistency is the thing to look for when you surround yourself with people who can help you on your quest.”
“It is important that you strive for humility, but not humiliation, for a cool, level-headed confidence, not a stiff, delusional arrogance.”
“I’ve had to learn that not everybody does things my way. But I do expect the absolute best of everyone around me, and I’m disappointed when people don’t expect that of themselves.”
“The only thing you can never change is your values.”
“The basis of self-discipline: don’t allow the edges to blur.”
“You can make goals for family, relationships, anything.”
“Your problems pale in comparison with those of the millions of people in the world who do not have enough to eat.”
“The mind is absolutely instrumental in achieving results. As strong as my legs are, it is my mind that has made me a champion.”
“You can’t control what the other athlete is going to do; you can’t control anything except for your competition and how you execute the race or how you execute the task.”
“The only one who can beat me is me.”
“You owe it to yourself to find your own unorthodox way of succeeding, or sometimes, just surviving.”
“Now athletes have a lot more control over their image, over their brand, they can broadcast themselves, they can put things out there through all the social media platforms that we didn’t have. Understand what you want to do and how that works.”
“One of the main techniques I used was focusing on the goal and visualizing myself competing in the race before the race started.”
“Hard Work equals success.”
“All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination.”
“I’ve always been a very grounded person. I didn’t get too high when things were going well and I didn’t get too low when they went bad. But that was hard to take. I had to focus on my goal of winning in the next Olympics. And I learned a lot from handling the disappointment. What I knew was that all the people who won medals had never beaten me. I just thought, ‘I’m still the best in the world.'”
“I was blessed with tremendous ability as a runner but that was not enough to make me the best. I had to work hard to realize the potential of my ability.”
“They don’t give you gold medals for beating somebody. They give you gold medals for beating everybody.”
“I work hard to improve myself as a person – as a father, as a husband, as a manager. I’m always on that mission.”
“I was doing all the right things – keeping my weight down, working out every day, eating healthy – and I still end up having a stroke. Being a stroke survivor is now part of who I am. I want people to understand it can happen to anyone and that there are ways to minimize the risk.”
“I’ve done a bunch of incredible things in life. This is going to be another. It’s going to come down to hard work and focus. I know how to do that.”
“I think about looking at myself in the mirror, struggling to hold a balance position for more than 10 seconds or struggling to coordinate my body when I used to be one of the best athletes in the world. But what that did for me is encourage me to channel that in the right way, and believe that if anyone can do this, I can. It seems these things can affect anyone, even the once fastest man in the world!”
“I’m no stranger to a good exercise plan and have thrown myself into it with my usual focus and determination.”
“Be your own case manager. Understand your own health, understand the risk factors and understand how you can take control and minimize the risk. Stop smoking if you are a smoker. Being overweight increases your risk so keep your weight down. Eat a balanced, nutritious diet. Stay active.”
“It’s been the most significant event in my life and it’s been one of those experiences, though, as well – the way I’ve taken it is sort of the ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ [approach]. It didn’t kill me and so I’m sitting here stronger today.”
“A good traveler is one who knows how to travel with the mind.”
“It is clearly not the journey for everyone. People succeed in as many ways as there are people. Some can be completely fulfilled with destinations that are much closer to home and more comfortable. But if you long to keep going, then I hope you are able to follow my lead to the places I have gone – to within a whisper of your own personal perfection; to places that are sweeter because you worked so hard to arrive there; to places at the very edge of your dreams.”
“I would advise anyone, whether it’s Usain Bolt or any other athlete about what to do after retiring – I think it’s about finding a passion.”
