Meet Michael Petrella

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Petrella a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

When I was ten years old, I came home from football practice and my dad asked me “how was practice?”. My dad was a salesman for his entire adult life, door to door at times in the 1950’s, and was an incredibly positive and resilient man. I suppose he needed to be to endure the type of rejection that comes with that line of work. I told him that practice was not going well and that I wasn’t getting playing time because “the coach didn’t like me”. The words he spoke next would resonate with me for my next 45 years. He said, “Mike, it doesn’t matter if he likes you or not. The coach is selfish and wants to win. If you are good enough, he will play you whether he likes you or not.” This quote struck deep and made me realize that I am in control of me and not outside forces. I control if I do my best. I control if I do the work to become better and if I am good enough, I will be successful. That day I learned, do the work and I will get to play in the game, the game of life.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

As an Aquatics Behavioral Specialist I teach babies and toddlers to swim and float. This type of swimming is called self-rescue swimming. I teach kids to turn, float and maintain their float. It is truly amazing to witness a child, as young as six months old, perform these life saving skills. I’ve taught thousands of children over the past 16 years. The most interesting part of teaching children under three years old is the science that goes into this type of training. One has to understand behavioral sciences, operant conditioning and how to shape behavior using behavioral psychology. The work we do in the water with children is absolutely fascinating, every day!

I’ve been a Master Instructor for the past 11 years, training over 55 new instructors the process of teaching babies and toddlers to self-rescue. Teaching these skills to others is rewarding on a whole different level.

Over the past two years I’ve started mentoring newer instructors to become better, more efficient self-rescue instructors. I thoroughly enjoy watching instructors become better and take great satisfaction in their students learning faster.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Without a doubt, resilience and grit are the qualities that have served me best in my life. If I’ve had any success at all, it is due to my resilience and grit. I don’t think of myself as the smartest person. My grades throughout grade school (I was held back in third grade and had to do it twice), high school and college where not great. For most of my schooling I was a ‘C’ student. I learned early on that I could try and try and try again until I got it right. I learned that failures in life can be the best thing if I keep going and learn from them. I’ve used the old adage, “you only lose if you quit” many times in my life to keep going, keep learning until I understood the process, no matter how many times it took, to be successful.

I’ve used resilience and grit as a young Wal-Mart Assistant Manger just out of college, I was so bad that my district manager asked me to move to a different district. But I kept going and learning and became a Store Manger. As a new entrepreneur figuring out how to run my own merchandising company, getting into financial trouble early on and having to figure out how to make payroll. But I kept going and built it into a multi million dollar a year company. As a new self-rescue instructor in a state where I was the first to teach this type of swimming, and nobody understood what the process was. I built it so big I had over 400 families on my waitlist. Through my divorce where I lost two houses, a vehicle, a business, most of my belongings and had to move in with a friend and start over in a different state half way across the country. I met the love of my life, started my new self-rescue swim company, O2 Swim, LLC and have never been happier. And now through reinventing myself as a Mentor, helping others to succeed.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

I think anybody that is trying to do something worthwhile or great becomes overwhelmed sooner or later. When this happens to me, I dive in deeper. I work more. For me, the answer is always in the work. The act of “doing” not only fixes the problem that is causing me to feel overwhelmed, I also receive an amazing sense of pride that comes with working through whatever the problem is. The act of doing creates confidence which gives me a belief in myself to do bigger and harder things.

Staying fit and healthy also helps. When overwhelmed with a situation or with life, a good workout, healthy meal and a 40 minute sauna – cold plunge session always gets my day turned around into the right direction.

Keeping promises to myself also gives me a better sense of self-worth. When I make a to-do list, I do it. When I plan a workout, I do it. I set a time and stick to the time. This, very often, requires me to say “no” to other things that pop up. Committing to what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, is a major key to fixing the feeling of being overwhelmed. Keep the promises you make to yourself and you will have an amazing sense of self-respect.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.MrMichaelPetrella.com
• Instagram: @Mr.MichaelPetrella
• Facebook: MrMichaelPetrella
• Linkedin: @Mr.MichaelPetrella
• Twitter: @Mr.MichaelPetrella
• Youtube: @MrMichaelPetrella1
• Yelp: O2 Swim