I love Olympic season. It’s the best display of human strength, endurance, resilience, hope, and mental focus all wrapped up in the context of entertaining performances, nail biting runs, beautiful artistry, and colorful commentary (yes, Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir have taken this to a new level of amazing-ness).
As I’ve been watching the Winter Olympics, one thing that keeps coming to mind are the years of training, preparation, and dedication that lead up to these performances, runs, routines that are over in sometimes less than a few minutes – if that. The millions upon millions of minutes, and what is usually a lifetime of minutes, all lead up to just these few moments in time of “do or don’t.” It’s a hell of a lot of pressure.
It’s refreshing to hear some of the Olympians talk about anxiety and nerves. They have every reason to be nervous- many of their careers depend on these few moments. In many ways success depends on how well these nerves and strong emotions can be harnessed into physically succeeding for these few moments in time. In competition, the hard work of daily training, preparation, growth, strengthening, and overcoming losses and “bad” days are past, and now it’s time to show everyone what all the work is about. The ability for an athlete to stay in the present moment, be mindful, and remain confident in their preparation is the key to victory.
The ability to view “nerves” as “extra energy” and channel this into their performance to make themselves quicker, better, stronger is the definition of a competitor. The ability to work through a minor misstep, a small trip, a failed move, and not allowing it to snowball into a disastrous performance, is the definition of what it means to be a world class competitor. The ability to do this is what many people call staying in the moment. This moment right now.
As you read this text, focus on the words. Feel yourself in your chair, or feel your finger on your smartphone screen or mouse pad. Pay attention to your breathing, or lack thereof. The ability to be in the present moment is what makes Olympic hopefuls – champions. The ability to just be. Not wasting energy on what just happened or what might happen. Being in The Now, The Present.
There are far more Olympic “losers” than “winners.” I know what you’re thinking, just making it to the Olympics is an enormous accomplishment in itself, but don’t tell that to the world class champions that will do anything for a spot on the podium. Winning is fun, an ego-boost, and truly validates all of the hard work – BUT I think the TRUE lesson in all sports whether it’s on an Olympic stage or a kid’s Tee-ball game, is how people deal with the losses. Losses can teach you a lot more than your wins. Yes, I know it sounds trite, but it is very true!
Losses can test your passion, resolve, and persistence. More importantly, losing can challenge you to grow through the struggle of becoming better.
The pain and agony of defeat may serve as a reminder, that you may never want to feel that way again. It can become the driving force to get you out of bed for those early morning runs, training sessions, and drive you to become the best version of yourself you can be. It’s fun to win, and it’s fun to compete, but true champions are made in the way that they respond to losing. A champion has lost many times. But champions don’t respond to losing by giving up, they respond by persisting. They lean on their love and passion for their sport and they focus on “the why?”
Although the Olympics may be very far out of reach for many of us, the lessons that it brings about what it means to be a champion and what it takes to be a champion can be very relevant to our everyday lives. In what area of life are you striving to be a champion? Are you staying in the moment, neither overly focusing on what happened in the past or what might happen in the future?
Are you letting yourself be defined by how you respond to your losses and not the misstep or loss itself? Are you focusing on the “why?” of what you’re doing and your passion for it?
Champions are made in how well they can harness and respond to negative emotions and their ability to persist. This is a lot easier said than done. Olympians have had a lifetime of practice, their coaches, trainers, medical team, and I’m sure a sports psychologist or two, to help them out. Many of us are competing in our own everyday version of the Olympics. Just as an Olympian can grow from support and guidance of a coach or sports psychologist, perhaps you are too hoping to react to loss from a growth mindset. Maybe you keep replaying that “stupid” mistake over and over in your head and are having trouble moving on. Perhaps you are in search of the “why?” in what you are doing. Here is where talking to someone, like a licensed psychologist, can help you “get out of your own head,” and into the world. In doing so, you can learn how to grow through the struggle and make steps towards your own championship- whatever that may be for you.
-Andrea
Hi! I'm Andrea K. Pihlaskari, Ph.D., and am the founder and licensed psychologist at Houston Psychology and Wellness. I love working with adolescents, young adults, and any individual who wants to be the best version of themselves in all areas of life. Struggling with your everyday version of The Olympics? Are you constantly expending energy on what happened yesterday or are constantly worrying about what might happen tomorrow? Still in search of your "why?" in it all...
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