Goals are the connection between who we are and the dreams we have. They are the path that turns dreams into reality. That’s just one of the powerful insights that Olympic rower Marnie McBean shares in her book “The Power of More: How Small Steps Help Us Achieve Big Goals”.
Watch a short interview with Marnie conducted during the OREA Leadership Conference.
Marnie is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and an athlete mentor for the Canadian Olympic Team. In her interview with the OREA Centre for Leadership Development, Marnie explains some of the things she learned about achieving her dreams. “First all you have to do is put one little pinhole, one little waypoint, between who you are today and who you want to be tomorrow. As soon as you have one waypoint, you have a path. As you start going along that path you will probably put in sometimes hundreds of waypoints between you and the goal you want to achieve.”
A large part of Marnie’s success is her profound curiosity – her desire to learn. In this interview Marnie talks about how curiosity is like running down a corridor of doors. Each door leads to something new that can be learned; and behind each of those doors is another corridor of doors with more things to be learned and mastered. In Marnie’s words, “I really think that’s how people who are career champions think. They get it. They never stop being curious. They never stop learning and they never stop opening these doors.”
Despite her love of learning, Marnie is acutely aware of the stress that comes with being a champion. She says, “We actually only have stress for things we care about. If we don’t care about anything, we have no stress.” Whether an Olympic rower, a successful REALTORÒ or an association leader, Marnie feels that we all do better when we take a positive approach to stress. She relates stress back to the corridor of doors she speaks about. Before we open a door, she says, it can feel like a “big hairy deal.” But if we learn something little with each door that we open, that can lead to learning something big – and that leads to achieving our dreams.
Marnie McBean is one of Canada’s most decorated Olympians, and an expert in turning potential into performance. As a Specialist in Olympic Athlete Preparation and Mentoring for the Canadian Olympic Committee, McBean prepares athletes emotionally and psychologically to ensure that they perform at the highest level in everything they do. Marnie is a member of both the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Guinness Book of World Records, and a recipient of the Governor General’s Medal. She holds a degree in kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario, as well as three honorary doctorates. As an ambassador for Right to Play, for Fast and Female, and for Plan Canada’s Because I Am a Girl initiative, she is actively involved in helping to promote the safety, health, and activity of Canada’s youth.
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Title: Marnie McBean on How to Achieve Success
Featuring: Marnie McBean, Olympic Rowing Champion, Mentor, Author of The Power of More: How Small Steps Help Us Achieve Big Goals
Length: 9:45 minutes
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