When I look back at my journey leading into the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, I see more than extreme training cycles and race strategy. I see the foundation of the framework I still use today as a motivational speaker working with leaders, teams, and high performers. That period wasn’t just about becoming faster; it was a complete reinvention of who I was as an athlete and, eventually, how I would think about peak performance in business.
had previously introduced what I call the Olympic Performance Trilemma, and the truth behind it is simple: you can’t optimize everything at once. I had to rebuild my fundamental approach to performing. The goal was ambitious - drop my racing weight from 157 lbs to 142 while also maintaining quick recovery and powerful endurance. And on top of all that, I still wanted to remain explosive on the ice. Wanting all three is natural. Achieving all three simultaneously is not - just like the Business Trilemma, where leaders must accept that speed, quality, and cost can’t all peak at the same time.
One of the questions I get most frequently today, often when I’m speaking as a business speaker, is how I knew that 142 was the right weight. It wasn’t based on intuition or guesswork. I analyzed the previous three Olympic Games in detail, studying altitude, humidity, ice conditions, temperature, and the racing styles of athletes who consistently made finals. That research revealed a sweet spot: the ideal competitive bodyweight for my event ranged from 138 to 147 lbs.
The lighter athletes weren’t just faster; they were more adaptable. They handled pressure, cornering, and unpredictable conditions better. And those conditions mattered. Short track and figure skating share the same rink, but the preferred ice for each sport is drastically different. Figure skaters want warmer, thicker ice for stable landings. We want cold, hard, thin ice for grip and speed. But with lights, cameras, broadcast demands, and the energy of an arena full of spectators, Olympic ice naturally softens. That softness gives lighter athletes a critical advantage in control.
Even though I had the data, the challenge remained the same challenge leaders face in business: the Trilemma. I wanted to maximize weight loss, endurance, and power - but all three couldn’t coexist at peak levels. The real question became: Which two mattered most right now?
For most of the four-year stretch leading to Vancouver, we chose weight reduction and recovery. That was the foundation I needed to train relentlessly, avoid breakdown, and build an engine that could handle multiple rounds of racing. But I paid the price in the short term. My explosiveness dipped. My starts felt slower. I questioned myself often.
This is the point in my journey where I began to understand something I now emphasize regularly as a professional speaker:
You can accomplish everything over time - but not all at once. Sequencing is everything.
The plan was not to achieve the perfect mix from the start but to build the foundation deliberately. Once my weight and recovery reached the thresholds we targeted, we reintroduced heavy power training - squats, plyometrics, sprint work, and power-focused circuits. It wasn’t random. It was methodical. Every phase is built on the one before it.
As I moved closer to the Olympics, the combination of patience, sequencing, and trust in the plan began to pay off. By the time the Games arrived, my goal wasn’t perfection in every category; it was achieving the right blend at the moment it mattered most.
But it wasn’t smooth. Things got worse before they got better. My body felt unpredictable some days. My energy fluctuated. My mind tried to convince me to go back to my old training style, the one that felt safe. Sticking to the plan was uncomfortable, but that discomfort became the separator between progress and regression.
It’s the same discomfort that leaders face when they pull back on one priority to strengthen another. And this is where the business parallel becomes undeniable.
In today’s fast-paced, hyper-competitive world, businesses constantly balance three conflicting forces: innovation, cost efficiency, and operational stability. Achieving all three at once is extremely challenging, forcing companies to make difficult strategic choices.
Companies deal with their own version of the Olympic Trilemma every single day:
Everyone wants all three. But in reality, no business gets all three at full strength at the same time, not sustainably.
When I explain this in board rooms, on stage, or during workshops as a motivational speaker, I see leaders nod immediately, because they feel that tension daily. They want speed to stay competitive, high quality to stay trusted, and low cost to stay profitable. But trying to hit all three simultaneously is where organizations burn out, break down, or stall.
The solution is the same one I lived through: sequencing.
Identify the two priorities that matter most for your current phase. Communicate those priorities clearly. Build your processes, culture, and decision-making around them. Then, once you stabilize, you can layer in the third priority with intention and structure.
It’s the same method we used in my Olympic preparation—focus, reinforce, then expand.
High-performing leaders have the same mindset I had as an athlete: they want to protect everything at once. But that mentality increases anxiety, reduces clarity, and leads to reactive decision-making. It’s the business equivalent of trying to be lighter, stronger, and more enduring all at the same time without a plan.
Today, when I deliver this message as an advisor and business speaker, I watch teams breathe a little easier. Because sequencing removes chaos. It creates predictability. And it builds momentum.
Letting go of long-held practices is often the hardest shift for any organization. Even when change is necessary, the instinct to maintain control can slow transformation and limit growth.
The hardest part of the Trilemma, for athletes and leaders, is loosening the grip. High performers love control. They want to steer every detail. But the paradox is that your best performance often comes when you release some of that tension.
On the ice, loosening my grip allowed my movement to flow. In business, loosening the grip gives teams space to innovate, collaborate, and grow. Tight control doesn’t create excellence; trust does.
As a professional speaker, I see this in every industry. The moment leaders shift from trying to control everything to intentionally sequencing their priorities, the entire organization lifts.
Every transformation has a dip, a period when forward progress feels like backwards movement. But that dip is not the end. It’s the stretch before the slingshot.
That dip is exactly what athletes feel before a breakthrough. It’s what businesses feel before new momentum kicks in. And it’s what leaders experience before clarity replaces confusion.
By the time I stood on the Olympic ice in Vancouver, I wasn’t perfect in every category. But I had the right blend, and that blend mattered more than perfection.
Whether I'm sharing this journey as a motivational speaker, a business speaker, or a professional speaker, the message remains the same:
Great performance - in sport or business - is not about pursuing three priorities simultaneously. It’s about choosing the right two, building the foundation, trusting the process, and integrating the third when the moment is right.
That’s the Business Trilemma. And mastering it changes everything.