Life is Tough
but You’re Not Alone
Thanks to my faith, I’ve been able to do things I never would have been able to do on my own.
As I’ve trusted Jesus more and more over the years, I’ve started to feel a peace I’d never felt before.
A peace that helps me overcome life’s challenges because I know that I’m not alone.
I hope these prayers speak to you, and help you navigate through life.
If you rewrite them in your own words, you’ll internalize them more easily.
Take your favorite lines from different prayers and write your own.
Doing this has helped my faith go from my head to my heart.
Those 18 inches can take a lifetime to travel, but the rewards are incredible.
Click here for the Prayers PDF
The Power of Morning Quiet Time with the Lord – PDF
Share this page with anyone who’s going through a tough time.
Relationships that Last
If people learned this when they were in high school or college, there’d be fewer divorces.
Falling in love and STAYING in love are two different things.
Most people fall in love because of hormones.
The hormones wear off in about 18-24 months.
If there’s not a strong foundation underneath, there’ll be trouble ahead.
The one-in-a-million couples who fall in love, and STAY in love for decades, have the following combination:
=> Similar values
=> Similar interests
=> Opposite personalities
They married their best friend.
Think about your best friends and you’ll see the combination.
The first link goes into more detail.
Click here for “What to Look for in Your Ideal Partner” – PDF
Ruben’s Favorite Books
Becoming an expert in any subject is a byproduct of years of study fueled by a passionate desire to learn everything about the subject.
I’ve always been driven to learn anything that could possibly give me an edge in sports, business, and in life.
It only takes reading a book a month to be in the top 5% of readers in the US.
If you start reading a book a month in your field, before long you’ll start earning more, and in only five years you’ll be considered an expert in your field.
Here’s some of my favorite personal development, mental toughness, relationship, biographies, and Christian books.
How to Write a Book
Writing a book is a big project but it’s very fulfilling.
If you own a business or if you’re in sales, a book is great for marketing your services.
It sets you up as the expert on the subject because you wrote the book on it.
It’s the business card people never throw away.
Best of all, your book leaves a legacy of your thoughts and life lessons to your kids and grandkids.
Click here to go to Ruben’s Amazon page.
Have you read “The Shortcut”?
I’d be honored and very grateful if you left a review.
So You Want to be a Speaker?
Several times a year, someone asks me to help them out getting started in the speaking business.
I’ve created a post to direct you to some great resources to help you get started.
Read on only if you’re serious about becoming a speaker…
I won’t candy coat this. The speaking business is a tough business.
95% of this business is selling yourself and marketing yourself to prospective buyers (meeting planners).
Delivering the speech is simply delivering the product after it’s been sold.
If you don’t like sales or cold-calling, or if you can’t take rejection, I suggest you do something else.
I’m not trying to scare you away.
I’m simply letting you know how it is.
How I Lost 25 Pounds Naturally
Even though I’ve always tried to eat healthy, over the years I started to gain weight and after a while I wasn’t looking very “Olympian.”
Back in 2012, we were on a vacation in Cancun and I invited my best friend Carlos Quiroz to come spend a few days with us.
Carlos is a Medical Doctor.
He was one of my teammates in our college soccer team (read about Carlos incredible story in “The Shortcut.”).
When we went to the beach I saw that Carlos had a six pack.
I asked him, “OK Carlos, what did you do to get THAT? I want one of those. I’ve NEVER had a six pack.”
Yes, my weight loss wasn’t driven by a desire to be healthy.
It was 100% driven by male vanity.
Carlos put me on a special program designed to lose weight slowly so that I’d develop proper eating habits, so that my body would’t go into “starvation mode,” so that I would’t get stretch marks and so that my body would automatically reset the weight it “thinks” I need to be at, so that the weight would stay off.
By doing the things you will read about below, I lost 25 lbs in 18 months.
Best of all, I kept it off.
The picture of me speaking in the previous section was shot in 2026.
This works!
2012 – I’d stopped looking very “Olympian.”
Become Unstoppable
on the Way to Your Goals
At Cafe Olympia Coaching, you’ll discover how to use the success principles of history’s top achievers to create your ideal life.
Imagine being able to achieve your goals and dreams faster and more easily that ever before.
That’s what you’ll be able to do as you apply what you learn at Cafe Olympia.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to be more confident
- How to think like a champion
- How to achieve your goals faster
- How to get yourself to take action
- How to thrive under pressure
- How to face life’s challenges
- How to stay motivated
- And much, much, more!
How to Help Your Kid Become a Champion
Confidence is a result of one thing – hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication. – Roger Staubach
I’ve always told my children that everything is hard at first.
But if you persevere, work hard, and listen to your teacher or coach, eventually you’ll learn the skills and it will no longer be hard.
It’ll start to be fun.
But you have to be tough and do the work. You have to pay the price.
Why? Because life’s tough. So you have to be tougher.
I always look for opportunities to praise my kids’ hard work and perseverance.
I praise their effort because effort and hard work will result in improvement.
Don’t praise your children’s talent or intelligence.
If you do, you’ll hurt their motivation and performance because they’ll think that they’ve arrived.
They’ll think they can use their talent and intelligence to coast to success.
Worse of all, they’ll be afraid of making mistakes because in their mind, mistakes would show that they aren’t intelligent or talented.
Always praise effort and hard work. Explain to them that effort, hard work and the willingness to make mistakes is what makes champions.
Think about Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.
They’re champions because of their work ethic.
Because they’re willing to outwork the competition.
Gracen’s story in pictures.
The short videos are powerful.
How to Overcome Challenges
Sometimes when something bad happens to you, it ends up being a blessing in disguise.
In November 2023, I was hit by a luge sled in a freak accident in Innsbruck, Austria.
I dislocated my elbow and had to do a speedy rehab.
Watch a video of the accident below (don’t worry, it’s not gory).
Discover how I was able to keep my spirit up so I wouldn’t lose my momentum.
Ruben’s freak luge accident in Austria
Ruben’s Rules
You’ll never achieve anything great in life until you start believing that something inside you is bigger than the circumstances you face.
Ordinary people can become extraordinary if they dedicate their lives to the pursuit of their dreams.
The struggle we must all face on the road to our dreams is what makes us great.
Every success you’ve ever had or will ever have is the product of your courage to act and the courage to endure.
Success isn’t about how much talent you have. It’s about what you do with the talent you do have.
Successful people love the battle, the challenge and the journey. It’s about knowing that you did your best.
If you will do whatever it takes for however long it takes and refuse to quit, success is only a matter of time.
By following this philosophy, you can create your ideal life.
The Champion’s Creed
Ninety-five percent of winning is accomplished by only five percent of the participants.
This is true in sports in business and in life.
Winners in every field agree that elite performance is 90% mental.
What percent of your time do you spend training your mental game? Ten percent? Less?
This powerful affirmation will help you start improving your mental game.
The best time to read The Champion’s Creed is first thing in the morning or last thing at night.
That’s when your mind is most susceptible to auto-conditioning.
Read it with passion and emotion. Preferably while looking at yourself in the mirror.
If you print it and tape it to your bathroom mirror, you’ll be ready to go.
Reading The Champion’s Creed will put you in a strong, determined state of mind.
Determination is a powerful state of mind because when you’re determined to do something, nothing will make you quit.
Read this with power and energy whenever you need to do something challenging, like making a presentation, making an important sales call, or whenever you need an edge to be your best.
How to Avoid back Pain and Possibly Back Surgery
Luge starts are really hard on your lower back.
Over the years I’ve discovered ways to keep my back strong so that I can keep competing.
The tips in this 7 minute video could save you from back surgery.
When Life Hits You with a Curveball…
Do you quit, or do you find a way to hit it out of the park?
I was doing a virtual presentation for one of my clients.
In the middle of his presentation, the library I was shooting from had to be evacuated because of a broken water main.
I ended up finishing the presentation in my car!
Watch the highlights including when I got kicked out.
Message to Teachers
Thank you for doing what you do.
You have the power to change lives and make the world a better place.
How to be Unstoppable on the Way to Your Goals
If someone like me could make it to the Olympics, write bestselling books and speak around the world, you can achieve your goals and dreams too.
As you listen to this story, think about how you can use the tips I share to achieve your dreams faster.
Make a Difference
You have God-given gifts you can use to make the world a better place, and your life much more meaningful.
Don’t waste your life doing something you’re not passionate about.
Do what you’re passionate about, and do it to the best of your ability.
You’ll make a difference, and your life will be Heaven on earth.
How to Juggle 3 Balls
Juggling is good for your reaction time and your coordination.
Pretty cool party trick as well.
Meet Ruben
One minute video about what I do.
Enjoy!