TEI 278: Creating the courage to succeed at anything – with 4-decade Olympian Ruben Gonzalez

How anyone can persevere and reach their goals even in difficult times

The Everyday Innovator™ Online Summit recently ended. It was April 8-10, 2020. The speakers were absolutely incredible! Twenty-five top experts shared their strategies, practices, and tips to help product managers and product VPs gain higher performance and get more success. You can still get the wisdom they provided.

Ruben Gonzalez was our motivational keynote for the Summit. He was so good, I wanted to share the discussion with you as well, The Everyday Innovator™ podcast listener. I won’t be sharing other sessions from the Summit, but I think you’ll find this one inspiring. Even though we recorded it before concerns of COVID-19 dominated the news, it’s a message you need to hear now.

Ruben is the only man alive who has been in four Winter Olympics across four decades and he is working to make the 2022 games his fifth. He describes himself as a common man who achieved extraordinary things. He wasn’t a gifted athlete. In school he was always the last kid picked to play sports. He didn’t take up the sport of luge until he was 21, which is considered ancient to start preparing for the Olympics. Four years and a few broken bones later, Ruben was competing in the Calgary Winter Olympics.

His incredible story takes people’s excuses away and fills them with the belief and inspiration to face their challenges and fight for their goals and dreams. People buy into what Ruben teaches because they can relate to him. In this discussion, Ruben will inspire and equip you to win.

Whether achieving victory in the Olympics, in business, or in life, the same success principles apply: focus, discipline, integrity, teamwork, leadership, overcoming your fears, and committing to excellence.

Summary of some concepts discussed for product managers

[1:50] How did you end up in the Winter Olympics?

The Olympics has been my dream ever since I first watched the games on TV when I was 10. But it was a pipe dream because I was always the last kid picked for PE. I had a lot of heart, but my body didn’t go with it. When I was 21, watching the figure skater Scott Hamilton win the gold medal gave me hope. I thought, if that little guy can win, I can at least play. I decided that I would be in the next games no matter what. I just had to find a sport.

You must have two types of courage to reach your goals: first, the courage to get started, which comes from your belief that your goal is possible, and second the courage to endure, which comes from your desire.

I always had the desire, and after seeing Scott Hamilton, I had the belief. In high school, my nickname was Bulldog because I was always very tenacious and persevering. I decided to pick a tough sport, with a lot of broken bones, because hopefully a lot of people would quit, and I wouldn’t. I picked the luge. After four years and a few broken bones, I made it to the Calgary Olympics.

[4:59] What kept driving you to get to the Olympics?

After I got excited about the Olympics, my dad encouraged me to read books about the lives of great people. I realized that perseverance is the common denominator to reaching your goals. It’s not a guarantee, but quitting is definitely the end of your dream. Success is a decision–committing to figuring it out no matter what.

My dad also encouraged me to hang around winners. The people you’re with and the books you read determine where you end up. When people who have already done big things start believing in you, you start believing in yourself. The mentors I started spending time with asked me questions like, Why not now? Why not me? I made it onto an NCAA Division 1 soccer team, but a few weeks later the coach told me that I was a threat to my own team. I was too slow.