Elexis 鈥淟ex鈥� Gillette wove advice into his story of losing his sight as a child, discovering and honing his abilities as a long and triple jumper, and becoming a Paralympian who has won medals at every major international competition in which he has participated.
鈥淎 lot of people have perfect sight but don鈥檛 have 20/20 vision,鈥� he said in the 黑料正能量 Disability Employment Awareness Month event. His ability to visualize possibilities eclipses his disability.
Recounting how he had landed on concrete instead of sand in the long jump event of the聽2015 IPC Athletics World Championships, Gillette said,听鈥淎 lot of times in life, people find themselves missing the mark. The difference is what you do about it.鈥� After he was medically cleared to continue in the competition, he garnered the gold medal with his next jump.
He shared four steps to gaining success that bear out his personal slogan, 鈥淣o need for sight when you have a vision.鈥澛燭hey are:
1) Envision your highest goal. 鈥淲hat is the one thing you want so bad in life that you are willing to fail over and over and over to get it?鈥�
2) Take a risk. 鈥淵ou have to take a shot in the dark.鈥�
3) Identify a plan for becoming the best. 鈥淣ot YOUR best, but the absolute best. Fulfill your potential. You need a plan in everything that you do.鈥�
4) Get up and go after it. 鈥淵ou can dream about it. You can talk about it. But if you don鈥檛 do anything about it, it is useless.鈥�
鈥淣o matter what obstacles you have in life, you can always come out on top,鈥� Gillette said 鈥淲hatever it is that you have going on in your life 鈥� know that that thing may be tough at times, but you have what it takes.鈥�
The only totally blind athlete to exceed the 22-foot barrier in the long jump, Gillette is a current world-record holder in the long jump, a four-time Paralympic medalist, a three-time long jump world champion, and an 18-time national champion.
A Raleigh resident with roots in Kinston and La Grange, Gillette is currently training in California to make his fifth consecutive United States Paralympic team with the goal of winning gold in the 2020 Paralympic Games.
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