What Champions Do That You Don't | Split-Second Adaptation Under Pressure | Episode 425

What Champions Do That You Don't | Split-Second Adaptation Under Pressure | Episode 425

Pressure can break you or shape you, and few places test that truth like the Olympics. We dive into what it really takes to get from practice to podium, weaving stories from Milan 2026, Oksana Baiul’s clutch adaptation under the lights, and the countless unseen hours that define an Olympian’s life. Think relentless training, travel burdens, and the emotional math of choosing a goal that’s worth the grind.

We talk about how elite athletes manage stress in the moment—like Oksana changing her program after Nancy Kerrigan’s huge score—and why that kind of agile thinking matters far beyond sport. Nicole Bobek’s journey reminds us that dedication isn’t measured only in medals; the discipline, sacrifice, and resilience behind the scenes are achievements in their own right. Along the way, we connect those lessons to everyday life: finding workarounds when tools are missing, adjusting expectations without losing momentum, and focusing on what we can control when pressure spikes.

A favorite moment centers on Lori Hernandez’s children’s story, where “Zoe” falls off the beam and still goes out for ice cream. It’s a simple, powerful reframe: celebrate the courage to try, normalize the stumble, and build the confidence to return. As the Winter Olympics head to Milan, we invite you to watch with a sharper eye—see the grit, the micro-adjustments, and the quiet choices that make greatness look easy. If you want more conversations at the intersection of mental health, performance, and purpose, hit follow, share this with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the show.

Chapter Markers

0:00 Welcome And Global Reach

1:25 Milan 2026 And Personal Ties To Italy

2:53 Why The Olympics Matter

4:38 The Price Of Becoming An Olympian

5:54 Oksana Baiul’s Stress And Sacrifice

8:42 Performing Under Pressure On The World Stage

10:30 Adapting In The Moment For Gold

13:05 Everyday Adaptation Mindset

16:02 Nicole Bobek And The Unseen Work

19:10 Logistics, Travel, And Time Costs

22:20 Goals Worth The Commute

26:06 Planes, Propellers, And Perspective

30:08 Laurie Hernandez, Zoe, And Celebrating Falls

34:40 Turning Setbacks Into Confidence

38:10 Closing Gratitude And Community CTA

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Global Reach
• 1:25 Milan 2026 And Personal Ties To Italy
• 2:53 Why The Olympics Matter
• 4:38 The Price Of Becoming An Olympian
• 5:54 Oksana Baiul’s Stress And Sacrifice
• 8:42 Performing Under Pressure On The World Stage
• 10:30 Adapting In The Moment For Gold
• 13:05 Everyday Adaptation Mindset
• 16:02 Nicole Bobek And The Unseen Work
• 19:10 Logistics, Travel, And Time Costs
• 22:20 Goals Worth The Commute
• 26:06 Planes, Propellers, And Perspective
• 30:08 Lori Hernandez, Zoe, And Celebrating Falls
• 34:40 Turning Setbacks Into Confidence
• 38:10 Closing Gratitude And Community CTA

Transcript

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 0:02

Hi everyone, it's Justin here, Voices for Voices. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode, as well as our over 420 episodes in our catalog. Whether you're watching, whether you're listening, whether you're here in the United States or across the world, we are reaching over 100 countries, over 1,000 cities on our way to helping three plus billion people over the course of my lifetime. And we're turning that 100 countries of reaching and helping into 300, and we're turning the 1,000 plus cities that we are reaching and helping into 3,000. And it's all because of you. Thank you so much for joining us. It is an awesome feeling to be here, to have the opportunity to uh come into your homes, to come in to your earbuds, uh, wherever you may be, whether you're home or whether you're traveling, whether you're at work, uh, whether you're commuting, uh to and from work. Thank you so much for joining the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. We are up against uh the uh Winter Olympics are coming up very shortly, uh very soon, uh, and they're gonna take place in uh Italy, uh around the Milan area and in different different spots for for different different sports. And having been to Italy twice, uh actually three times, so uh twice was for school, and we went to Milan both times, uh more for uh you know business and and seeing how business is conducted, how manufacturing is conducted uh in Italy, because uh I'm from the United States, our class is based in the United States, and so we went to Italy to learn international business up close and personal. And it is uh just an awesome feeling to to know that some of the areas that uh I may have visited uh with my uh classmates uh will be featured uh uh locations uh for the uh 2026 Winter Olympics. And so this episode's about the Olympics. Uh the Olympics, yeah, they come around every uh every four years, I believe. Uh there's the winter, then there's the Summer Olympics, and Olympics really brings together the best of the best. Uh so you know, the best uh athletes from all the countries that are participating. And I'm gonna refer back to uh the couple conversations we we had here on on the show that you'll be able to check out after you watch and listen to this particular episode. Uh, and and that is the stress and the amount of time that people who are training for the Olympics, like these are lifelong goals, right? So we've talked about goal setting a little bit, and so for some athletes, individuals, uh the Olympics is kind of like the pinnacle of their uh of their career, and so what I mean by that is that's what they want to do. They want a they want a chance to be an Olympian, to win a gold medal, a silver medal, a bronze medal, because these are all the best in the complete entire world that are competing, not just within you know a particular country, but uh across the entire world. Um, and and so there's so much training, and the conversation that I'm referring to is let me pull up episode number 317, where we had the opportunity, so that's episode number 317. 317 is the episode number where we were able to interview in person Oksana Bayul, the figure skater, gold medalist at uh Olympics, and she talked at length about the stress that goes into training, and we're not talking about practicing or training, you know, one hour a week or one hour a day. These are these are very dedicated people that they're going to school and then they head off and practice. Some practice, then go to school, and then practice again. And so there's so much time and intensity to be perfect, and we know that nobody is absolutely perfect, we know that Jesus is perfect, not us human beings, but we try to be the best that we can and to come out on top in the Olympics, and so Oksana was talking about how stressful all that training was for years and years and years to have an opportunity to qualify for the Olympics, so that's stressful enough. Then when an individual qualifies for the Olympics, then there's the performance or the game or the matches, uh, depending on we're talking about a tennis match, if we're talking about a figure skating and competition, uh there's so much that goes into it, and knowing that so many people are watching and listening across the world. Uh I know growing up with my mom and my dad and my sister, the Olympics was something that we we we watched. It was something we look forward to uh seeing, you know, depending on the location of where the Olympics were taking place. Uh, a lot of the Olympic games take place in a different time zone in uh many times different countries, so they're recorded or taped, and then some of not all the events because there's so many, uh, but some of them are then uh able to be broadcast on the uh uh usually they call prime time, you know, evening television, where the most people have an opportunity to watch uh or listen to uh a broadcast of what is uh occurring, you know, who's participating and all that. And so Oksana was talking about when she qualified, she made it to the Olympic Games, and then it was her turn to skate. And Nancy Kerrigan, the U.S. Olympian, skated right before Oksana and had one of the highest scores, and so there was even added pressure to Oxana, where not only all the stress from all the practicing and qualifying, make it to the Olympics, qualifying and going forward in the actual competition to be at the point where she was skating after Nancy Kerrigan for the gold medal is is really what it came down to. And Oksana mentioned to us that she had uh you know some some back issues, and so that was bothering her, and and so through all that she was able to compete, but not only that, adaptability is one of the skills that we try to learn as human beings, and Alexana was telling us how she had to adapt her program, her figure skating program, so the two to three to four minutes. So, right, you have all the these years and hours of practicing and qualifying, and it comes down to just a couple, just a few minutes, and then to watch a competitor get one of the highest scores, Oksana again, as she she talks about in episode 317 and in our catalog, uh again, check that out, watch it, listen to it. She had to adapt in the moment. So not only was she going with her, you know, pain in her body, she was dealing with the stress of, oh my gosh, if I want to have a chance at a gold medal, I have to do something different in my program, in my routine. So she added an additional uh an additional jump, that's what I'm gonna call them, because I don't I don't know uh like all the the specific names of all the different jumps that uh and the spins and all that, that's what the the the judges judge the the the figure skaters on. You know, they have different criterion that they do that. And and so Oxana in real time dealing with the pain, all the stress that goes into it, the millions they're watching, not just uh those inside uh the you know the ice rink, uh ice arena, uh, but the people watching all over the world. And she made that modification and she made that adjustment, and so she added this extra jump, and she landed it, she did it. And and Oksana ended up winning the gold medal based on her scores, based on the fact that she was able to modify in real time and say, in her mind, hey, if I want a chance of this gold medal, I gotta this, I have to do something additional. I need to change something. And so that's something that us as individuals sometimes we have to uh sometimes we have to work through. You know, nothing is perfect, so we can plan just like the Olympians, uh, but sometimes we have to modify. And that could be any number of of ways and things that we would have to modify on a on a on a daily basis. Uh let's just say that if and this is just a small example, let's say that you you're you're you're you're filling out papers for something. Maybe it's a house, maybe it's a car, maybe uh maybe it's a TV, it maybe it's a piano, a guitar, and you're filling it out, and you're being asked to fill out the form with a pen in the store where you're at, or location you know, for the house, the signings, they don't have any pens. And so did we think to bring a pen or not? And so we may have to modify and say, well, I have a sharpened pencil, is that okay? Well, not ideal. The fact that we had a pencil, we were able to sign the papers. I know that's a very small example, and it is on the other side of the continuum from what we were talking about with the the Olympics, but that's just a modification of sometimes we have to we have to deal with that. Let's say uh there's a treadmill and we're doing a workout and we're used to walking a certain number, right? So the the treadmills you could you uh you can either make them incline, so it feels like you're walking up a hill, and then there's like the speed at which you're walking. Well, maybe you're used to walking the number seven, but the treadmill you have only goes up to six, but you can do the uphill, which is what you need to do, what you want to do. And so you just make that modification and say, okay, for this workout, I'm only gonna be able to do six. There's no other way like I like that I can change that, and so that's what I do. I do the number six instead of number seven. It's not gonna ruin all my other workouts, but I'm just adapting to the moment, like getting getting as close to that number as possible, and also getting back to the Olympics, uh we had on, and this was yeah, episode number 353. Uh, so that's episode number 353 on uh the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. Again, you can watch and listen after you watch and listen to this episode. Uh we had Nicole Bobeck, and she's also an Olympian, and so she uh went through the rigors and the stress like Oksana did. Now Nicole from a medal perspective may not seem or look as successful as Oksana's, but she's still an Olympian. And there's still so many hurdles and obstacles and qualifications and all the um practicing and you know sometimes uh you know these individuals for that are uh participating in the Olympics, that's that might be all they do is practice, school, eat, sleep, practice, school, eat, sleep. It may not have a whole lot of time to have the you know the kid uh or the adult experience with you know friends and family, there might be it because there's just so much so much practice that uh that goes into it. And you might say, oh, okay, well, yeah, there's a lot of practice. Well, there's also travel time as well, because if you're a figure skater, and unless you live near an ice skating or an ice rink, because you're gonna play hockey on on on ice as well, unless you have an ice rink that's nearby, it's not like going to the local gym. Um, yes, you do work out at a gym or a modified gym, uh, but the actual skating and getting used to being on the ice and the different turns, and then there's music that's being played, and you're choreographing your jumps and your spins and your skating, you know. If there's a fast part of a song, so you might skate a little faster, might have a faster or quicker jump and spins, and and the slower part might be a little bit slower of the skating. Uh and so there's so many, so many aspects that it's not just like a sport, not taking anything away from the other sport of baseball or or basketball, where it's it's pretty straightforward. And for baseball, you need to just need glove and a ball and and uh and a friend or a family member, and you can play catch anywhere. Uh basketball, may uh whether there's a basketball, whether there's a gym whether there's basketball hoops, uh maybe close, but it I I would think there'd be a basketball court closer than an ice rink. I don't know that all for sure. Uh I just from my understanding is the an ice ring, there's there's fewer ice rings. And so you got to add that into the practice time. So let's say you're doing two hours of practice a day, and you have to travel an hour each way. That's four hours right there of your day. And there's a there's different countries which are joining us, and thank you so much for joining us all over the world. We love you. Uh, we thank you for your love and support. Where there's even fewer ice rings, and so they might have to travel even further. And so I'm just bringing these up just to talk about there in this season of Olympics that's coming up here very soon, that there's a lot of sacrifice that goes in to wanting to be an Olympian. And the thing is, the the chance of let's say a hundred thousand people want to be an Olympian, compete at the Olympics, well, we see that there's so few that actually make it to the Olympics. And so there's so many that go through all that same stress, uh practice, the driving back and forth, uh, all that, and don't get an opportunity to compete as an Olympian. They have to wait till the next the next Olympics, which is years away. And so I think it's it's really times like these that make us reflect a little bit on our own lives and thinking about how much time do we spend practicing, traveling to and from. There's some people that have to take an airplane to and from work every day. There's some people that live in in uh in states close by, but let's say they're have a TV show, or they're uh a news anchor in one of the big markets, maybe New York City, maybe Miami, maybe Chicago, Los Angeles, uh, San Diego. And so maybe they commute, their commute is on an airplane every day, or a subway, or a train, or a bus, or a car, or an airplane, or a helicopter. I'm sure I may be missing one or more uh transportation methods. But when we think about all that time, that goal has to be worth it. So if you're a news anchor and that's your job, and maybe the the the organization pays for your flight back and forth, or maybe that maybe they rent you an apartment or a condo to live in during the week, and then you're back home with family on the weekends. I'm just throwing examples out. I remember sitting in the San Diego airport. This is several years ago, and I don't know what news organization this individual works for or worked for, but it was a basic it's it was a T it's a TV show. There are you know, tell it's you know, we have you know TV and the news cycles 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we were waiting for a plane to arrive to take us to Los Angeles to get a bigger plane, then to go on to our final destination. Hers is different than mine, and I just overheard a conversation with her saying, you know, I wouldn't be taking the because there's a red eye flight that was San Diego to LA and then LA to wherever you're going because of the time change and and different time zones. Uh, we're we're gonna be arriving in the morning. And I overheard her say, you know, I wouldn't be taking this red eye, um, but I have to be on camera at a certain hour. And so again, I don't know, I don't know what news station it was. All I knew was what I heard, and so that was probably someone who was on TV in one capacity or another, and so she lived in San Diego, but was going to her work, and it was a it was a Sunday night, uh, was gonna be going to New York. And so that's where I'm I'm I'm getting at as far as the goal has to be worth it, and and so I don't I have no idea what the family situation is or was, or I'm going off of literally hearing a couple sentences of just happen where I was sitting, and you know, people were just gathered close to the gate, ready for the air airplane to arrive. The one with the propellers, by the way, too, which uh those scare me a lot. I remember well, I won't, I won't they they they've they verge. I I will hear in a second, but it's it's it's it's kind of funny and interesting. Uh and so to hear that, so she uh she was traveling to and from work. So my guess is that wherever she was working, probably had a hotel or an apartment or a condo where this person was able to live during the week and then fly now. Because it I mean you're talking, you know, New York to LA or LA to New York, that's you know, you're talking about five-hour flight. And and so if somebody were to do that, that'd be 10 hours, like at least 10 hours a day. If it was every day flying San Diego to LA to New York, New York to LA to San Diego. Uh so my that that that's just my thoughts on a situation. Now on on the plane, um, I was watching and I like the sport of baseball, and they're the hometown team is the Cleveland Indians. Now it's the Cleveland Guardians. Well, it's been it it had been uh quite a long time since the guard the Guardians or the the Indians at the time had a good record and made it to the playoffs, let alone to the World Series and won it. It'd been a really long time. And so somebody made a movie about them making it to the playoffs. Uh and in and in the movie, one of the ways that they're made the team was made to travel because the own the owner wanted to move the team from Cleveland, Ohio, somewhere warmer down south. So the owner in the movie found what they thought were not great players and thinking, okay, they could justify a move or a sell sale of the team with a really bad record. They could they could say, look, this was the record, and we're gonna move the team. And so the owner was trying everything, so they started off you know flying, um, and the the plane that they're flying in uh has the propellers, and they were and in the in the one scene in the movie, the team was waiting for the plane, and they looked over, you know, they saw a jet, and they said, Oh, you know, we get the traveling style. Uh, and then somebody from the team said, Oh, no, no, that's not your plane, your plane's over here, and they looked over there, and well, and and there was uh one of the maintenance workers with duct tape putting duct tape around you know the the propeller uh propeller needed uh some something to help keep it together. Um and so that was the one the one uh the one example. And then the second example I had uh in the in the professional realm with one of the organizations I was working with. Uh, we were taking uh we had flown down commercials, so like in a regular jet, I don't remember which airline it was, uh it doesn't matter, but uh in the organization they were they're gonna be taking us to their uh locations where they make the product that they sell. And and so we were we're taking their private jet or private plane, so that's what it was. It was private plane. And so somebody at work said, Oh, you're going on the private plane, and they're like, Yeah, that's not a it's not a jet, because people think like, oh, you're flying private. Uh and they're like, No, it's not, it's not what you think of. It's not uh it has it has the propellers, and I was like, oh my goodness, and I gotta find the picture. I have it somewhere. I don't know where it's at, where I was able to get a picture with the pilot right outside the plane. Um it ended up, I mean, it was like I think it was like a 40-minute, 35-40-minute flight from uh where we were at to where we were going, and then we you know flew flew back after after the tour. Uh so a 45 or 35-40-minute flight each way. That if somebody was commuting that that amount and it was being paid for, because it's not it's not inexpensive to fly on any type of a plane, no matter what what kind of plane, whether it's one with the propellers or whether it's you know uh uh 747, uh you know, or these these jumbo jets. Uh so all that to say, getting back to close out our show on on the Olympics, uh, there isn't a uh past Olympian. Uh her name is Laurie Hernandez, ended up winning a gold medal at I believe it was the 16, 2016 Olympics. Uh so she's a gymnast. And you know, we have we have a child in our uh in our home that it's our child. Um and so we like to read to our child. My wife and me, we like to read to our child. And we came across this book, I and I believe it was my wife that came across it, and and it uh the book was written by Laurie Hernandez, and what I didn't know until literally right before started this show is so the main character in the book, the name is Zoe, and I was like, okay, Laurie Hernandez, um I just looked it up real quick. Her middle name's Zoe, and that's the main character in the book, and I had no idea. I had no idea that was that that's her middle name. Uh and so Zoe in the book, you know, reflecting on Laurie talking about all the practice and how the the balance beam was one of her best uh one of her best, yeah. They have the rings, they have the floor competition, they have the uh the balance beam, they have the horse where they jump and do flips, and they have the bars, you know, the one, the taller one and the shorter one. And so the the balance beam is the one that Laurie was really good at. And in the story, Zoe, also known as Laurie Hernandez, uh, goes through how she went to gymnastics when she was growing up, and and she fell. And so she told her family, I don't want to go back. I don't want to go back, I don't want to go back to gymnastics again. And her parents said, Let's go get some ice cream and celebrate. And Zoe was like, Well, why are what what's her to celebrate? Uh I I fell and I don't feel good about that. I don't know if I want to go back. And her parents said, You did fall, so we're celebrating that you fell. And we know that sometimes we're gonna fall, and sometimes we're not gonna fall. So they went out, they had ice cream, they the story continued to the end where she didn't fall. And I think that can be implemented in all of our lives. There's times we're gonna fall. We're gonna fall short. We may physically fall. And then there's gonna be times that we're not, and we don't, that we don't fall. And so I just want to leave you with that. Have fun watching the 2026 Winter Olympics. Milan, Italy. And just think about that. Sometimes we're gonna fall, sometimes we're not. A lot of it for me is in my mind, and where I fall short. And then there's sometimes where I don't fall short. And we have to be this understanding of that. So to bring this home, our child had an appointment, went to the appointment, didn't work out that day, that time. And I said, Let's go get some ice cream. My child was like, or our child, my wife and I've child. I say mine, she's ours, our child. And she was like, Well, she's a child, so she is naturally like, Oh yeah, like ice cream. But she was kind of like, well, why? And I said, Remember that book we read the other night? Which was the Lor Laurie Hernandez book, the Zoe book. Do you remember how Zoe fell? And she said, Oh yeah. And I said, that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna go get ice cream, we're gonna celebrate that we went to your appointment, and it didn't work out last time. And so there's gonna be some times where it does work out. In fact, more than way more than those that don't. And and so I invite you when you can to take maybe a situation or an event. Like Zoe, Laurie Hernandez book main character and celebrate. We already have enough negativity, division in in the world. So why don't why don't we just celebrate the little things and say, yeah, it's still work out. I'm sure growing up, same thing for me. I'm sure I went to appointments, doctor, done out, and they and it didn't work out. For sports, there were there were times where I made the team and times that I didn't make the team that I wanted to make. And so we just learn have to have to have to learn and do the best we can. No, it's not gonna be overnight. No, it's not gonna be the easiest thing in the world. No, it's not fun. But let's just have a little fun. Let's celebrate sometimes those things that don't work out. Because that might be the very thing that celebration, that you know, going for ice cream or whatever for you is a is a treat. Maybe that's the very thing that's gonna help that child, that person go back the next time to that appointment and do it. And think of I I'm I'm brave. I I came, I and it didn't work out, and now I'm back, and it's gonna work out. So thank you so much for the love and support. Uh we uh we have again over 400 episodes, but over 420 episodes to be exact. Uh have fun watching the uh winter Olympics coming up. Uh it's definitely gonna be uh something that's gonna be fun to watch. And and you know, we we cheer for countries, but we just cheer for people doing the best they can, and that's how life is for us. We just do the best we can, there's nothing else we can do, and so I'm Justin Alan Hayes, voices for voices. So until next time, be a voice for you or somebody in need. We'll see you next time. We love you, we're thinking about you. If you can, text, call, group chat, social media posts, let people know about the voices for voices, TV show and podcast. We would love to have them as subscribers as well. So, thumbs up, like, follow, subscribe, share. We love you. We'll see you on the next episode. Farewell for now.