Olive Loughnane on Tenacity, Setting Goals, the Eye of the Tiger & Leaving Nothing on the Road! EP060

My guest this week is 2009 World Champion in the 20km walk, Olive Loughnane. I was very much looking forward to chatting with Olive to get a view into what made her the highly successful champion that she was. So, naturally I was delighted when we connected back in February and she ‘walked’ (sorry) me though her career.As a big sport fan, with a huge interest in performance psychology and how to get that extra 1%, listening to Olive talk about her gradual improvement over the years, having fierce determination and, of course, never giving up, was a real treat.During the conversation, Olive shared stories that stood out during her journey and breaks down what the process is and what the key ingredients are to become a world champion. She almost makes it sound possible for the average person!The topics covered include:Being Originally from Cork and moved to Galway at the age of 4.Spending school and her degree years in GalwayEarliest memories linked to the Moscow Olympics in 1980Having a fondness and love for the outdoorsAlways being very determined from a very young ageStarting out in Athletics at the age of 12The Value of Volunteers & Influencers along the wayCross Country was Olives first big eventLoving being part of a teamHaving a draw towards the Walk as it was endurance based and technical –Meeting Michael Lane – another volunteer and he was a big influenceHaving ‘the Eye of the Tiger’, determination & tenacitySport is as much about the mental tenacity as it is about the underlying physical talentsLearning to set big Setting Big GoalsSetting high standards for herself & Control the controllableFor Olive, Sport Psychology was about taking a step back and relaxing and learning to go with the flowTaking Calculated Risk takingBeing a Statistician and being very analytical in natureNominated Athlete of the Year in Leaving Cert marking a breakthrough pointSacrifices didn’t seem so big and the high standards became the normBreaking down the steps taken to qualify for the OlympicsLogical and PlanningBreaking the Big goal into Medium goals and then smaller goalsMaking it more manageableGradual building of confidence – short-termSMART Goals being applied to getting to the OlympicsWhere the Magic comes in with Goals – Realistic is the part that could be different!!Plateaus in the career and dealing with theseIn 2003-5 leaving some of it on the road by overtrainingLearning that her training plan needed to be managed moreWorking with Sports scientists & listening to the data moreThe Walk was an individual race but a team sportBeing very lucky to have a team of people around herOvercoming from challenges and learning from theseHaving to reach an Olympic standard again within 6 months the birth of her daughter or face a funding cut10 days after having a C-Section starting to train again and full training 6 weeks laterGetting Burnt out in 2007 after training too hard too quicklyStill having the belief in 2007 that she could still do this – didn’t matter who believed it2009 training – calming down and finishing 7thin Beijing gave her confidenceKnowing that the race in 2009 was her day in Berlin total belief this was the day for a medalSeeing the calmness as the main difference – here to do the job! Visualization techniques – focusing on the process not the resultSport is all about the process – and it is!Intuition v Data & FactsControl v Letting go with GoalsLife after retirement working with the high-performance committee of Sport IrelandCareer convergence with Analytical and Experience1% Better tips:The Value of Volunteers & Influencers along the wayFocusing on the process – awareness that the pain will come but being readyAccepting there would be challenges, expecting them and overcoming themHaving positive mantras – my last 5km is always my strongestDeveloping a calmness in competition – building awarenessControlling the controllableDeveloping a Goal System – using SMART & Heart!Setting big long term goals, then medium term goals, then smaller shorter goalsFollow Olive on Twitter - https://twitter.com/OliveLoughnaneJust a quick note to say thanks for listening. There are a lot of podcasts to choose from and you picking this one means a lot to me. I know that sounds like a cheese-ball thing to say, but it’s true! I’m enjoying creating these shows, learning from them and I’m hoping that you are too.To help me make the show even better, I wand & need your help. Your feedback is essential. So, please take a few minutes to get in touch (links below, or subscribe on iTunes and leave a rating or review).If you liked this episode, share out the link via one of the socials. It will help me reach a bigger audience. If One Person gets something from the Episode that makes them 1% Better, I’ll be a happy man.Finally, if you really love the show, and really want me to take it to the next level, I’ve set up a Patreon site where you pledge some financial support. That would be awesome. You will also get exclusive access to upcoming podcasts and article posts that are just for those that are Patreons.Connect in with Rob on the socials or via email on:Email    Twitter   Facebook   WebsiteSubscribe to the Rob of the Green Newsletter Here