THE PERSON

LIVING TO INSPIRE

Selling herself short to the top of the Olympic podium

“I DID 100% OF WHAT WAS EXPECTED OF ME, BUT NOT 100% OF WHAT I WAS CAPABLE OF.”

I WAS 27 YEARS OLD, ONE YEAR INTO MY MASTER’S DEGREE IN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY. I WAS DOING WHAT MOST PEOPLE DO – SIMPLY PURSUING THE NEXT STEP.

I WAS DRIFTING AND I WAS LIVING LIFE “WITHIN EXPECTATIONS.”

When did I internalize the idea that it was okay to just be good enough? Why did I let myself downplay my abilities just to fit in? When did drifting through life become acceptable?

WHERE DID THAT MENTALITY COME FROM?

I grew up in a small’ish town of about 12,000 people, and I had a great childhood. But there are two comments that stick out in my mind. Two comments that had huge impacts on my life, and have shaped my hunger to empower other people to not sell themselves short.

One comment, although directed at someone else, I internalized immediately and it shut me down. And the other comment, although directed at me and meant to lift me up, I didn’t internalize and embrace until years later.

“LOOK AT HER. SHE THINKS SHE’S SO MUCH BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE.”

I was in high school, and although that comment hadn’t been directed at me, it still affected me to my core. What if people think that of me because I’m good at sports? Would people think that of me if I showed the full extent of my abilities? I certainly didn’t want anyone thinking that I thought I was better, or that I was trying to show anyone up.

What people fear more than failure is rejection, ridicule, judgment, and isolation. And so, like most people, I went into self-preservation mode – blending in. I tried not to draw extra attention to myself. I DOWNPLAYED EVERYTHING. I did only what was asked of me and no more.

Which led to…

“POTENTIAL IS JUST TALENT THAT YOU DON’T HAVE YET.”

That’s what my high school coach said to me in my senior year. I had always been told that I am athletically gifted, but I really didn’t know what that meant. And I did just enough to slide through. Why? Because I grew up in a small town in Prince Edward Island – the smallest province in Canada – and didn’t want to stand out. So, I downplayed everything. And my coach knew I WAS WASTING MY POTENTIAL. Wasting what I could become.

I also considered sports to be extracurricular to what I was going to do to earn a living anyway; so I earned a bachelor’s degree in science, and then a master’s degree in occupational therapy. Outwardly, I appeared to be driven; but I was pursuing things I thought I was “supposed” to do. I was pursuing life “within expectations”.

But then MY PERSPECTIVE AND MY MINDSET SHIFTED. And now I know, first-hand, that so many people simply drift through life, sell themselves short, and never challenge themselves to discover what they are truly capable of.

At the age of 27, after being pursued by Canadian Olympic coaches for years, I decided to face the challenge: Could I qualify for Canada’s national bobsled team and compete in the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino…. only 5 months away!?

It was then when I realized I am MOTIVATED BY CHALLENGES.

And then CHALLENGES KEPT APPEARING: Hip surgery. Ankle injuries. Winning Olympic Gold on home soil. Switching gears from bobsledding to rugby to compete in the Rugby World Cup. Broken shoulder. Repeat as Olympic Champion. Compete for Canada internationally in a third sport. Climb one of the world’s tallest mountains. Another hip surgery. Start a business. Write a book. Compete in a fourth Olympic Games at 39 years-old….

POTENTIAL IS HIDDEN INSIDE ALL OF US, but it has to be unearthed – discovered and then realized. And, perhaps because I embraced this drive later in life, I was able to see situations and choices from a unique perspective and was able to pursue my goals my way. I was able to stand up to the momentum and societal pressures, and make the decisions along the way that were truly right for me and aligned with my values and priorities.

But first I had to see beyond the thinking that ‘those’ things happen to ‘those’ people – that Olympians were ‘TV people’ and not everyday normal people like I considered myself to be. I had to see beyond the boundaries that I had set for myself – beyond the limitations of my own perspective.

AND NOW IT’S YOUR TURN TO SEIZE YOUR POTENTIAL
AND OWN YOUR STORY.

Elevate your event
with Heather

Coaching with
Heather

Professional Bio

Heather Moyse is one of Canada’s great multi-sport athletes. A four-time Olympian in two-man Bobsleigh, Heather won gold at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, and again at the 2014 Games in Sochi. Before she was an Olympic champion, Heather was a mainstay on Canada’s Senior Women’s Rugby Team. Heather led Canada to silver in the 2013 Rugby Sevens World Cup, and was the top try scorer in the 2006 and 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cups. In 2016, Heather became only the second Canadian, and first Canadian female, to be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Heather represented Canada in a third international sport in 2012, when she placed Top Five in two events at the Pan-Am Track Cycling Championships in Argentina.

And in 2016, before deciding to compete for her fourth Olympic Games in 2018 at 39, Heather climbed Antarctica’s highest peak, Mount Vinson, as part of an expedition to support the members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Heather has a master’s degree in occupational therapy, and is a highly sought-after motivational speaker. Some of her past clients include TEDx, Arbonne, Canada Post, Loblaws, Royal Canadian Mint, Fidelity Investments, the Canadian Armed Forces, CIBC, Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, Canadian Student Leadership Conference, Trillium Automobile Dealers Association, University of Waterloo, Atlantic Women in Law Enforcement, SunLife Financial, BMW, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and has shared the stage with author and leadership guru, John C. Maxwell.

Her best-selling book Redefining ‘Realistic’ was released in 2017.