If you’re like most people this month, you’ve been glued to your TV watching the world’s best athletes compete at the games of the 2012 London Olympics. While we’ve seen records fall and history being made, we’ve also been fascinated by the stories of individual athletes and what they did to make it to the Olympic stage.

Here are three things I learned from watching the Olympics:

1. See yourself as the person you want to be, not the person you are at the moment.

Kieran Behan is a gymnast representing Ireland. Around the age of 8, Keiran knew he wanted to become a gymnast and started training. As he pursued his dream, he experienced a series of injuries, a botched surgery that resulted in nerve damage and a freak accident that left him unable to move his head or sit up. His doctors and therapists told him he’d never walk again. Kieran believed he would not only walk again, but someday he would be in the Olympics. He was as relentless in his physical therapy as he was in his gymnastic training. When he began to walk again, his doctors called him the “miracle boy”. Kieran never stopped seeing himself as a gymnast despite being told to prepare for life in a wheelchair.

2. Make the most of what you’ve got.

Oksana Chusovitina is a 37 year old world champion gymnast competing in her 6th Olympics. Jordan Jovtchev is a 39 year old gymnast and a four time medal winner competing in his 6th Olympics. These two gymnasts defy the conventional wisdom that gymnastics is a sport reserved for the young. Most gymnasts retire by the time they’re in their 20’s due to the wear and tear on joints, muscles and ligaments. Oksana and Jordan changed their workouts and routines to emphasize injury prevention while they continued to compete. Oksana says it’s actually easier for her to compete now because she’s smarter. She has decades of muscle memory, knowledge of the routines and the maturity of knowing how and when to push herself.

3. You’re never too young or too old to reinvent yourself.

Gabby Douglas captured the hearts of people around the world and made history with her incredible performance in winning the gold medal in the women’s all around gymnastic competition. She achieved her dream by reinventing herself. At age 14 Gabby realized she wasn’t learning anything new from her coaches. She was literally stuck doing the same routines and knew she was capable of doing so much more. She pleaded with her mom to allow her to leave her family in Virginia, move to Iowa, live with a host family and train with a new coach. While she doubted her decision many times along the way, her new coach and her family helped her reinvent herself from an average athlete to a Olympic champion.

Enjoy watching the Olympics and celebrate not only the thrill of victory but the important lessons these remarkable people teach us about life.