It is no surprise that in a year like 2021, the Olympics have had some unexpected twists and turns. One especially hot topic of conversation has centered on Simone Biles, commonly agreed to be the best gymnast in the world. So when Simone made the recent decision to step away from her last Olympics, the world had a strong reaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As it turns out, the decision wasn\u2019t easy. Not only did she have a case of the \u201ctwisties,\u201d she was dealing with the loss of a close family member. Happily, she came back and competed in the beam finals and ended up walking away with a bronze medal. She is now tied for the record for most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the latest instance of a trend in athletes making difficult decisions due to stress and burnout. Of course, it\u2019s crucial to prioritize mental health and well-being. Still, it\u2019s also essential to understand how we got here and how to reframe and reprioritize our own goals to improve our performance when we feel overwhelmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can all learn something from the example set by athletes like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka, who are under intense scrutiny from the media. Every move they make is hyped up so much that there is undue pressure on them. It makes it impossible to fail, and when you feel that it\u2019s impossible to fall, you fail. You don\u2019t enjoy what you\u2019re doing. All you\u2019re thinking about is what if you cannot perform. If any other gymnast steps off the mat, it means nothing more than a half-point deduction. If Simone Biles steps off the mat, it\u2019s a Twitterstorm. The fear of disappointing the world takes over, and the actual sport becomes secondary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s take another example. A lesser-known athlete, Romain Cannone, just won the gold medal in the men’s individual \u00e9p\u00e9e. Romain was a very average fencer, trained by a Ukrainian Coach in Brooklyn. He was good, but he never won any medals in international competitions. So, in some ways, he accomplished everything he wanted to achieve by qualifying for the Olympics this year. Romain had nothing to lose so he didn\u2019t have to be defensive. There was zero pressure, and because of that, he could fence the way he would have fenced in his club. And with a clear mind and a clear goal, he won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These two very different situations show us that when we are called upon to give our best performance, it\u2019s a mental game. When you’re under stress, hormones move blood away from your head and into your extremities (commonly known as the fight or flight reaction). As a result, you\u2019re not able to think clearly, and your vision narrows. To perform well, you must shift your focus towards enjoying yourself instead of competing with others. A medal or trophy doesn\u2019t mean as much as enjoying the feeling of flawlessly executing a move you have worked so hard to learn or playing a perfect game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do we reframe and reprioritize? Start by figuring out what makes you happy. And then do that every day. But don\u2019t stop there. You should also try new things. And, frankly, when you try something new, you\u2019re probably going to suck. When there\u2019s room for improvement, you\u2019re able to see and measure real progress. But you’ll also benefit from shifting your focus to learning a new skill. When you do something you\u2019re not good at, you activate parts of your brain you otherwise wouldn’t use. It\u2019s hard. But because it\u2019s hard, you\u2019re concentrating more. You simply won\u2019t have brain space to focus on feeling anxious!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And always remember to enjoy the ride. Simone Biles said it best herself after winning her record-making bronze medal in Tokyo: \u201cMy mental and physical health is above all medals that I could ever win. So to be clear, to do beam, which I didn\u2019t think I was going to be, just meant the world to be back out there. And I wasn\u2019t expecting to walk away with the medal. I was just going out there doing this for me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is no surprise that in a year like 2021, the Olympics have had some unexpected twists and turns. One especially hot topic of conversation has centered on Simone Biles, commonly agreed to be the best gymnast in the world. So when Simone made the recent decision to step away from her last Olympics, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"show","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n