I´ve had the opportunity to meet many people from all walks of life. Rich people, poor people, people who think that they are better than everyone else, celebrities, politicians, you name it.
But the most down to earth person I´ve ever met is Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa. Despite her endless list of achievements, the most recent one being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame she continues to be a simple girl from Guadalajara.
I had the oppotunity to learn a lot from now business woman, wife and mother. We talked about Discovering your talent, Dreaming big, hard work, faith and giving back.
This is part of our conversation:
JD -One of the most important things in life is to discover your talents and the things you are good and passionate about, how did you discover your talent?
LO – I started playing at the ag of 5 because I have two older brothers and they always took me with them. I loved just being in the course having fun.
What started as fun everntually turned into my passion and one thing that really caught my attention was the sense of competition.
At 6 I played my first state tournament, at 7 my first national and at 8 my first international competition. But it was not until I was 12 when I knew that all I wanted to do was play golf.
I also played basketball, also loved tennis and doing several sports gave me confidence and helped me developed as an athlete.
JD – Tell me about Dreaming big, I read in your book that when you were 11 you went to your coach and told him you wanted to be world No.1
LO – There was a tournament that changed my life and it was the nationals in Guadalajara where I lost and finished 3rd overall. After that I just had a feeling that I could have given more and I hadn´t done it. At that time I was also playing basketball and had other distractions.
After that I decided I was going to Dream Big. Dreaming big applies to everything; not just sports. You have to take those dreams and share them with people close to you so they can help you reach them. Family was very important in my career, they knew what I wanted to do and they helped me since I was young.
JD – Talk about the sacrifices you have to make and also I think today a lot of people quit to easy when things get hard or when they see that its not going to be easy. What do you think about that?
LO – Most of the time people see Lorena Ochoa lifting up a trophy seeing me happy, but people sometimes don´t have a clue of wha goes on behind the scenes to be able to lift that trophy. The truth is that its a roller coaster, sometimes you get frustrated, tired, sad. I always say this, at times I was scared, I doubted myself, I made many mistakes in important tournaments and asked myself when I was going to learn and many other things that come your way!
But I never quit, I always got up and kept going and I think that is what people have to do to reach their dreams.
JD – What is the biggest lesson you´ve learned?
LO – I learned that after every mistake I had to identified what I had done wrong. If it was a mistake that I had done because of lack of concentration then that meant that I had to work on that. If it was a technical error, then I had to work on my game and so on. I think most pofessional people and even in our families a lot of times we don´t ask ourselves those questions.
Not to be negative but instead to attack the problem from its roots so that you can improve.
JD – Tell me a little bit about purpose and giving back!
LO – I know that God gave me the ability to play golf and win so many tournaments so that I could give back and help others. I was fortunate to have discovered my passion and talents at a young age and I am trying to help others as well.
Through the Lorena Ochoa we have one school in Guadalajara where we have over 360 kids and we are focused on education. We work with this kids that don´t have much and we are also helping them to change their future.
This was our conversation and like I mentioned before Lorena after everything she has achieved continues to live her purpose and make a difference in the lives of people.
Remember, ¨It doesn´t matter where you come from, or how much money you might have. If you have faith, a dream and you work hard; you can accomplish anything.¨ – Juan de Lascurain –