Dame Katherine Grainger: Perseverance
Perseverance is all about refusing to give up. It is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. Dr Dame Katherine Grainger is Britain’s most decorated female Olympian and undoubtedly its greatest ever female rower. She won gold at London 2012 and silver at four other Games, and her ability to persist and keep going through setbacks and crushing disappointments undoubtedly helped set her apart. In this episode of DTMTS, Katherine sits down with Simon Mundie to relive her stunning Olympic journey, and to unpick the lessons she learnt about perseverance along the way. Katherine and Simon talk about the importance of discovering ‘your why’ and setting your goals high but also having smaller daily benchmarks to tick off along the way. They focus on the importance of being kind to yourself and being aware of how normal it is to be your own worst critic as well as the importance of support networks and being present in the moment but also taking the time to plan ahead. There are nuggets about maintaining a positive mental attitude, how to keep going even when you don’t feel like it, accepting the highs and lows along the way and realising that those tough moments will often be the time where you can learn the most about yourself. If you have any thoughts you wish to share about this episode, get in touch @simonmundie #DTMTS