Nick Brunelli's Keys to Success

This week’s Speedo Tip of the week comes from National Teamer Nick Brunelli. Brunelli offers his five keys to success.

Focus on now, but remember the future. You know that workout that slammed you yesterday? It's not only going to help you at your next meet, but also in 15 years when you have a big business meeting your boss puts you in charge of, and you have to work 20 hours in a day to get things going. You'll know what it means to work when you are tired. You won't be fazed by what others would consider an unreachable summit.

Assemble the moments. Every moment during the day there are choices to be made and throughout the day, they add up to create a feeling of how the day went. It’s up to you to choose correctly and match the goals you set in life with the choices you make in a day. Day after day, these choices add up to make that goal more attainable. If you want to go to the Olympics, it’s going to take many right choices throughout the day, every day, leading to that final moment at Olympic Trials. In the weight room doing that extra set, or during the last round of a set, force yourself to do everything right from your stroke to what you say to encourage others.

Be passionate and proud. Many people don't realize how much time and energy swimming takes up when done all-out. Be proud of the work you do in practice, and take that pride to become the best you can in anything you do. The best moments in many swimmers lives are right after the hardest sets or practices. Those moments are filled with feelings of achievement, success and absolute exhaustion.
Swim with meaning. Swim every stroke like you would want to swim when you achieve your goal time. The more times you swim with that perfect stroke, the sooner you will be swimming faster. When you decide to do something, fully commit to it. Commit mind, body and soul to your dreams and desires. This means on a daily basis making sacrifices that in the moment may not seem appealing but in the long run will matter the most.

When you fall, get back up. My favorite saying in recent years is, "Adversity causes some men to break; but others to break records." When you fall and get back up, use that as motivation to never fall again. Challenges that set you back and are later conquered can be some of the strongest motivation out there.