By Melissa Meehan
JUST 10 pieces of paper was all it took for multi Olympian Jacqui Cooper to reach her goals.
Some 10 years before she won her first gold medal, she sat down with her mentor and wrote her plan for every year of the next 10.
“It was my recipe for success,” she told an enthralled audience at the Cardinia Cultural Centre last week.
“I met every plan on every piece of paper and was able to achieve my goals.”
Speaking at the Cardinia Shire’s latest business breakfast, it was difficult not to hang on every word the energetic aerial skier had to say.
“I had to tweak them five years on, after a few injuries, but I continued with it,” she said.
“Ten years later I was celebrating being the world champ, my jump to get it was close to perfection and that was because I was constantly working to the plan.”
Ms Cooper now has five world titles, and is the first Australian woman to compete at five Olympic games and has had 24 operations on her body – she is only 38 years old.
“The greatest part of any achievement is the effort,” she said.
“My attitude has made me successful – and that’s all anyone needs.
“You can use this in business too – a good attitude can change things for the better.”
Ms Cooper and her story seemed to hit a nerve with all the businessmen and businesswomen in the room, who were obviously inspired.
Many remarked as they left that she was one of the best speakers they had seen.
“It really shows what you can do when you put your mind to it,” one lady said as she left the building.
