Habit #1

Habit #2

Habit #3

Habit #4

Habit #5

Habit #6

Habit #7

Family and Friends
This habit emphasizes the importance of serving others for a successful and satisfying life. I learned a long time ago that the secret to life contentment is in direct relationship to our service to others.

In this context, “service to others” means working on having healthy relationships with the people in your life (including brothers and sisters). I'm always amazed how, over time, the quality of our personal relationships can make or break a practice, a season and sometimes a career.

Basically, the nicer you are to your brothers and sisters and friends, the faster you’ll swim. And the more you obey your parents, the faster you’ll swim!  

Not convinced? Read on.

Healthy relationships with family and friends produce low stress and a happy heart. And low stress leads to peak performance.

Healthy relationships based on service to others = Low stress = Peak performance

The opposite is true, too.
Bad relationships = High stress which = Hindered performance 

How high school, college and even professional athletes choose to relate to others absolutely affects their performance outcome. For example, dating and breaking up in an unhealthy way can throw off your training for days and possibly weeks.

Of course, some high-stress life events you can’t control, such as a death or divorce in the family. On the other hand, you choose your friends (and eventually who you date and marry) and how you treat people, including your family.

Through healthy relationships marked by purity and service to others, you experience low stress and have a happy heart for peak performance. 

Try it! Once you've tasted how rewarding humbling yourself through service to others is, you'll never want to go back to arrogant, selfish attitudes that produce unhealthy relationships, unhappy hearts and poor performances.

Remember, when you make someone's day better, you make your day better. Good service translates to good swimming! 

Now, go clean your sibling's room just for fun, and I guarantee you'll have a better practice today and drop at least 1/100th of a second – all because you like yourself more knowing you helped someone.

Your Olympian,