Championships are Won on Your Bad Days: Lessons from RC

Who is RC?  Ricky Carmichael.
5 Time AMA Supercross Champion
10 Time AMA Motocross Champion
Nickname:  The GOAT
Famous Quote:  "Championships are won on your bad days"

For a motorcycle racer, when he has a bad start or has a crash during a race, he needs to get back on his bike and refocus;  block out the negative of what just happen, control his breathing and focus on the race in front of him.

What about the rest of us?
It's easy to have a good attitude when things are going well.  But how are you on your bad days?  What is your attitude when everything is going wrong?  How do you turn it around?  These are the days that really test your meddle; these are the days you find out who you really are and what you're made of.   These are the times when you need to keep your focus on where you want to go and avoid the ruts of negative thought.


On a personal note:
This hit home with me recently with a situation with our own family.  Our two dogs got out of the yard the other morning and they were gone.  We found Xander that afternoon, fortunately, but Betty was still missing when we went to bed that night.  My son, also,  lost the gas cap on his car earlier that day and neglected to tell me until after 9 o'clock that night when the auto parts stores were already closed.  In that moment, I began to think of all that had transpired this day and it would have been very easy for me to take it out on my son at that point.  Instead, I blocked out the negative, controlled my breathing (and tongue) and focused on the situation in front of us.

I had a very difficult time sleeping that night.  I noticed my thoughts continued to spiral downward and I even began focusing on other negative situations in my life besides our dog.  I finally had to get up and do something about it.  I needed to fill my mind with positive to counteract the negative thoughts in my head.  I just read a for a short time, but it did the trick.  I was able to go back to bed fairly quickly and with a completely different mindset. 

Fortunately, this story has a happy ending: one of our family friends found Betty the following morning.  I also experienced firsthand, how important it is for me to control my thoughts and attitude during difficult times.

Ricky Carmichael is now retired from motorcycle racing, but we can still learn from his words of wisdom.


"Championships are won on your bad days."

Watch this video tribute to Ricky Carmichael and find out why Ricky he is called "The GOAT" - it's probably not what you think.