All people have what they feel is the most important part towards an individuals success. Some believe it’s money or others hard work and maybe genetics in fact some will even go as far as luck. A persons situation can be multi faceted depending on which shade of glasses you are viewing it from but by majority over and over again one quality shines from all possibilities as a common denominator among successful or high performing individuals. It is no secret that Attitude towards any moment will ultimately define just how far one can go. But what does Attitude actually look like in reality, can it be trained and cultivated or is it simple natural and genetic…
8 Years ago i woke up with no feeling in my left leg. A traumatic freak knee injury had left me with a unrecognisable knee but more impacting to my life would be the nerve damage sustained leaving me with no lift or control of my left foot. A long way from home of the sunny beaches of eastern Australia i found myself in the upstate New York area of the Adirondack mountains in a hospital on Saranac lake. Two Drs looking over me as i try to make sense of their words in a morphine haze i ask “am i going to be ok”. I knew it was bad when they looked at each other and both decide to leave the room to discuss what was going on and the extent of my injuries. Not a very confident person in my own life i needed to know exactly what was going on and the longer i waited the more anxiety continued pulsing through my veins. However a few minutes later the Drs came in and quickly told me i will be ok and arranged a time for knee surgery.
Surgery happened rehab started and still no function of my left leg, time arose for a meeting with the head Dr of the USA Olympic training centre in Lake Placid Dr Byrne. An enthusiastic man with a warming energy and positivity he carefully looked over my leg he had just reconstructed and happy with how it was gave me the ok that i could leave. However i wanted to know would i feel and use my leg again, a question i aimed straight at the Dr and fiercely looked at him for an answer. A slight pause and a yeh yeh yeh John no problem you are going to be fine. I brushed myself off picked up my crutches and made my way outta the Adirondacks and on to a plane back to Sydney, Australia. Confident in time my injuries would heal and life would begin as normal.
However every thing was not fine, months, season then years go by and my foot has zero function or feeling. A lifeless peice of meat that is attached to my body just there doing nothing. What makes it worse is each Australian specialist i see tells me it doesn’t look good, physiotherapists tell me its time to look for plan B and even nerve specialists 18 months after the injury tell me there is no sign of healing and 0% nerve function. Despite all this information my Attitude is made up, i will prevail.
Fast forward to February 2014 and i am in Sochi, Russia. Qualified to compete in the Olympic games in the sport of skeleton. 3 years after my injury still in a supportive structure to assist in the problem and not really thinking about it just focused on performing to the best i can. The Attitude stayed the same all along that the leg would get better and so i just trained and reached for goals the same as if i was able bodied, although i was not it did not matter because the Attitude remained the same from that first spark set by Dr Byrne.
“Well i had to tell you something, you were so down and lost, your knee destroyed and no one around i had to cheer you up some how and look you are here, Good luck John”
Dr Byrne
Sitting at the start of the most surreal event in the most amazing facility i was immersed in the experience of the moment, an almost meditative state in owe off the structures set around me, until i was snapped out of it by two hands grabbing me. ” You did it you got here you made it i cant believe it that you qualified but you did it, i never thought you could do it” Dr Byrne said to me. Hold up i thought as i replied “But you said i would you said it would get better thats the whole reason i kept going” a small smile came to his face as he explained “Well i had to tell you something, you were so down and lost, your knee destroyed and no one around i had to cheer you up some how and look you are here, Good luck John” as he moved off to attend to the busy schedule in front of him as a team Doctor.
So the reality is with the beauty of hindsight that the mental stance and attitude i had taken to reframe the situation i was in was not real, a myth made by myself on the belief of a gesture to pick my spirits up. But here i still was ready to compete at the biggest event of my life, the Australian Green and Gold on my body and national crest on my heart. That is all the proof i ever needed that by far the number one component to your own success is no matter what situation you find your self in how does your Attitude frame it.
John Farrow