When Turtles Fly: Secrets of Successful People Who Know How To Stick Their Necks Out - Softcover

Stone, Nikki

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1600376754 ISBN 13: 9781600376757

Verlag: Morgan James Publishing, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

Did you know you have better odds at winning the lottery than an Olympic medal?  To bring home one of those coveted medals—or achieve any great personal goal in life—you need a lot more than luck.  You need a game plan.  What if you could learn the secrets of success from an Olympian?  A Nobel Prize winner?  A Fortune 500 CEO?  Along with anecdotes from her own dramatic journey, Olympic gold medalist Nikki Stone has compiled a treasure trove of compelling stories to illustrate each step on the path to success.  She’s gathered humorous, heartwarming and hugely inspirational tales from some of today’s most brilliant business leaders, scientists, soldiers, inventors, philanthropists, musicians, athletes and entrepreneurs…a host of people whose very names epitomize achievement.  Winners such as:

Designer Tommy Hilfiger, Prince Albert of Monaco, X-Games/Olympic Champ Shaun White, Best-selling author Stephen Covey, Jazz musician Branford Marsalis, Olympic skiing Star Lindsey Vonn, Special Olympic Chair Timothy Shriver, Top venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, NFL quarterback SteveYoung, Celebrity chef Todd English, Perfect ‘10’ gymnast Nadia Comanecin , And many more…

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At the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, Nikki Stone became America’s first-ever Olympic Champion in the sport of inverted aerial skiing. What made this performance so unbelievable, was the fact that less than two years earlier, a chronic spinal injury prevented her from standing, much less walking or skiing off a 12-foot tall snow jump that launches aerialists 50 feet into the air.  This top spot was far from foreign to Nikki, as throughout her career she earned 35 World Cup medals, eleven World Cup titles, four national titles, two yearlong Aerial World Cup titles, and a World Championship title.  You may have seen Nikki in one of her televised commercials or in one of her many television appearances on shows like Late Night with David Letterman and the Today Show.  In addition to her skiing endeavors, Nikki is also a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Union College in New York and a Suma Cum Laude  masters graduate of the University of Utah.  Her aerial retirement is less than restful as she works as a personal & professional development coach, trains other Olympic athletes in speaking skills, hosts group skiing adventures, sits on 5 different sports and philanthropic Committees, and authored the highly anticipated book, "When Turtles Fly".Stone now travels around the world working as a sought-after inspirational speaker, sharing her secrets to success.  She encourages and inspires her audiences to "Spread their wings." 

 

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Did you know you have better odds at winning the lottery than an Olympic medal? To bring home one of those coveted medals—or achieve any great personal goal in life—you need a lot more than luck. You need a game plan. What if you could learn the secrets of success from an Olympian? A Nobel Prize winner? A Fortune 500 CEO? Along with anecdotes from her own dramatic journey, Olympic gold medalist Nikki Stone has compiled a treasure trove of compelling stories to illustrate each step on the path to success. She’s gathered humorous, heartwarming and hugely inspirational tales from some of today’s most brilliant business leaders, scientists, soldiers, inventors, philanthropists, musicians, athletes and entrepreneurs…a host of people whose very names epitomize achievement. Winners such as:

Designer Tommy Hilfiger, Prince Albert of Monaco, X-Games/Olympic Champ Shaun White, Best-selling author Stephen Covey, Jazz musician Branford Marsalis, Olympic skiing Star Lindsey Vonn, Special Olympic Chair Timothy Shriver, Top venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, NFL quarterback Steve Young, Celebrity chef Todd English, Perfect ‘10’ gymnast Nadia Comaneci, and many more...

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When Turtles Fly

The Secrets of Successful People Who Know How to Stick Their Necks Out

By Nikki Stone

Morgan James Publishing

Copyright © 2010 Nikki Stone
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-60037-675-7

Contents

Acknowledgments, 
Chapter 1 Introduction, 
Chapter 2 Passion, 
Chapter 3 Focus, 
Chapter 4 Commitment, 
Chapter 5 Overcoming Adversities, 
Chapter 6 Confidence, 
Chapter 7 Risk, 
Chapter 8 Teamwork / Support, 
Chapter 9 Conclusion, 
Nikki Stone - Olympic Gold Medalist, 

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Introduction

I pushed the enormous rocking chair across the lime-green shag carpet. This would be the last piece of furniture I would need to complete my own Olympic podium. I had just watched Olympic Gymnastics Champion Nadia Comaneci stand on top of the real deal, and I wanted to see how it felt.

I slowly climbed onto the wobbly rocking chair, my pigtails swooshing back and forth. Occasionally a few hairs would catch on my eyelashes and I would pull the strands away from my face so I could continue on my mission. I calculated the chair's rhythm, carefully threw my leg over the back and slowly climbed up onto the lacquered old end table. I pushed myself to my feet and threw my fists toward the ceiling in victory. A huge smile broke across my freckled face as I imagined the crowds cheering around me and the camera bulbs going off left and right. I had my answer. It felt incredible!

My mother and father came in from the family room to see what the commotion was. I beamed down at them and stated with confidence, "I'm going to win the 'lympics!"

Now, I think most parents would be a bit leery of giving their five-year- old daughter any genuine encouragement for this giant undertaking, especially seeing that, in all likelihood, she had a better chance of winning the lottery than the Olympics someday. But my parents never flinched. I never saw any reservation on their faces when I declared my goal.

My mom lifted me off the "podium," plopped me down on the plaid easy chair and said, "Well, then I guess it's time for me to teach you about the Turtle Effect."

At the time, this meant little more to me than a chance to potentially hit them up for a pet turtle at Dom's local pet store. But I realized that if I was going to turn those living room chairs and table into a real Olympic podium, I had to learn what this Turtle Effect really meant.

She explained to me that if I wanted to be successful, I needed to be soft on the inside, I had to have a hard shell, and I had to be willing to stick my neck out.

To have a soft inside, I would need a passion for my pursuits. To build a hard shell, I'd have to focus on the task at hand, completely commit to my goals, and develop the ability to overcome any adversity that was thrown my way. And in order to stick my neck out, I'd have to have confidence, take substantial risks, and be a team player in order to succeed. Those seven lessons were key in mastering the Turtle Effect.

As I grew and developed through my years in gymnastics, and eventually, aerial freestyle skiing, I found my mom's advice invaluable. But it wasn't just her words about the Turtle Effect that helped me to become an Olympic champion. It was putting them into action, and experiencing challenges and pitfalls that would eventually help me understand the true depth of their power. Later, I found that by explaining these ideas to others, though motivational speeches, I could help many individuals accomplish their goals.

Galvanized by the possibilities, I decided to create a book that would offer people many profound and amazing stories for motivation, as well as hands-on activities to help them make changes themselves. I sat down and put together a list of people whose lives I found to be truly inspiring, and who'd worked hard to reach the top of their "game". I included accomplished businessmen and women, athletes, politicians, celebrities, authors, Nobel Prize winners, musicians and philanthropists. In telling their stories, these individuals, many of whom I've come to know, all shared a part of the Turtle Effect that helped them find their own success. To continue the inspiration, I've included one more special bonus story on-line that you can view at www.WhenTurtlesFly.com.

Each story is followed by a daily activity that has proved successful at my coaching sessions in changing people's lives in a concrete way, exercises you can use to improve your own personal and professional life. They serve as hands-on tools to help you enhance and develop your passion, focus, commitment, ability to overcome adversity, risk taking, and team building. From my years of experience as an athlete, speaker and peak performance coach, and by studying the habits of many powerful individuals I've encountered, I've come up with highly effective steps to encourage advancement in any career. Each activity includes blank space for you to keep notes on your own transformation.

Whether I'm mentoring future Olympic medalists, motivating hotshot businesspeople, or coaching eager young professionals, I find the Turtle Effect works brilliantly to help people reach success.

It's never too late or too early to pursue your dreams, and you're never too successful to work toward new goals. So get ready for the adventure of a lifetime.

Get ready to fly!

CHAPTER 2

Passion

Passion

It didn't matter if it was Monopoly, minigolf, gym class, or the gymnastics state championship, competition was always filling my soft inside. It got my heart pumping and made me feel really alive. If I put a competitive spin on anything I was doing, my interest was snagged, and I had to win.

From ages four through seventeen my competitive passion was for gymnastics. I had an entire wall in my bedroom dedicated to the ribbons and trophies I won in local competitions. My parents thought it was cute until they realized I'd used a staple gun to hang all my ribbons. The other three walls in my room were covered with pictures of Olympic gymnasts I cut out of magazines.

Just after my tenth birthday, I found myself competing in a state championship qualifier. After three events, I realized I was in first place. All I had to do was stick my balance beam routine and I would win the competition and be going on to the championships. Watch out, Nadia, here I come.

Well, three-quarters of the way through my routine, my foot slipped off the narrow, four-inch beam and I fell to the mat. I thought I couldn't feel any worse about this stupid mistake until I sheepishly looked at my coach and saw that he'd dropped his head in his hands. I crawled back onto my nemesis, that beam, and finished my routine without a flaw.

I quickly did the calculations in my head and realized that I had not only lost the all-around competition, but I would be sitting at home while several of my teammates went on to the state championships. I ran into the locker room and started to cry.

After a few minutes, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Through bleary eyes, I looked up and found a teammate of mine, Cassandra Wheeler, whom I greatly admired, standing in front of me. Between sobs, I declared that I was quitting gymnastics.

She walked away, and I thought that my role model was turning her back on me and my trivial problems. Then I heard a clanging at her locker and she returned with a small orange card in her hand. She held it out and I read the words, You Mustn't Quit.

"Remember why you chose to do...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Morgan James Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1600376754
• ISBN 13: 9781600376757
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 260
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Friedensallee 273; Hamburg; 22763; Deutschland