Consider this week’s Athlete Story a free world class coaching session that you can take yourself – and share with whomever you like!

Our coach is Olympic Gold medalist Joe Jacobi, a retired athlete in whitewater river canoeing turned executive business coach.

Joe uses the canoe and the whitewater river as a metaphor for navigating currents in life and business. That image makes it easier to get a full picture of the environment you are currently navigating in so that you can make better decisions.

This can for example be on the where you chose to spend your personal energy and where you try to take advantage of the currents. And it can help you gain awareness that different challenges take different strategies. That will also help you stay competitive in changing situations.

Some have said that they watched the video together with their partner and I thought that was cool ? I can see that being a great thing because what you get from this sessions is a common frame of reference – like words and images to help you talk about things that tend to be somewhat abstract.

After watching this you will have a clear of what I mean if for example I say :

« Look for where you can glide »

or « How can you position yourself so that you don’t have to fight the current ? »

I have used similar imagery from skiing to help me find out how to generate more good, playful flow in life – like I do when I’m skiing. So I look for where there is least resistance or where there is a feature I can have fun with. I know that most skiers will understand right away what I mean when I say that. And even non-skiers might be able to envision what I mean because it has a physical image attached to it.

So I hope you will enjoy Joe Jacobi’s Athlete Story as much as I did.

I ended up splitting it into two parts because it is so packed with world class sports wisdom and he had so many good points I didn’t want to leave out ! The two part can be watched independently – so don’t worry if you don’t have time for both right now.

In this part you will for example learn how understanding the concept of glide (i.e. working with the forces and energy around you) can help you save you energy for when you really need it.

You know that this is right up my alley! ?

– If not just watch my TEDx-talk: Achieve More with Less here: https://youtu.be/kjXglqi20vo

I love how he refers to that as « dancing in stead of fighting » The whitewater river illustrates that idea perfectly. In whitewater you are up against forces that a way stronger than any set of muscles can ever become – but understanding the forces of the river and working with them allows these athletes to achieve more with less.

You will also learn how his daughter came to be named after the village where the Jacobi family now lives, La Seu d’Urgell in Spain

A few keywords on what we talked about:

  • Insight into the fascinating sport of whitewater canoe slalom with some cool action footage

  • How you can draw your own parallels from navigating in this environment of constant change to life or business.

  • Courage and confidence – the emotional and spiritual sides of performance

  • Body language in teamwork

  • The concept of glide – and how it can help you save enrgy for when you really need it

  • Course correction

  • Joe’s journey to winning the 1992 Olympics together with his canoe partner, Scott Strausbaugh.

  • The gift of competition

Stay tuned for part 2 where you will hear more about some of Joe’s more current experiences and adventures as a retired world class athlete turned executive business coach.

Curious about Joe Jacobi’s executive coaching and camps?

Visit http://joejacobi.com

Thank you for watching.

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