Former Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn has a “switch” that goes off when you tell her she can’t accomplish something.
“Anytime someone said I couldn’t do something, that kicked my determination and drive into turbo mode,” Vonn revealed during a talk with Angela Duckworth, the author of “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” and Wheels Up exec Gail Grimmett. “I was like, ‘Watch me, I’m going to prove you wrong and then some,’ and that’s kind of always how I’ve been.”
Vonn added, “I’ve had people question what I’m doing, or how I’m doing it . . . since I was like 7 years old. Those kind of things flip a switch in me and I go into full work mode.”
The gold medal winner added at the talk — put on by Wheels Up for women to discuss pursuing goals and mentorship — that, these days, “I’ve learned to not base my happiness on my career, because I think oftentimes in the past I let it really get to me . . . my life was my career. As I’ve gotten older, and had different experiences, I’ve realized that’s not all life has to offer.”