I never did finish talking about Shaun White’s performance at the 2018 Winter Olympic games. The Catalyst that fueled last week’s blog was watching when Shaun finished his last run, knew that he had done his best and it was good enough to likely take the gold. (You see, he’d had the top score, then another competitor scored higher in the third round). Shaun only had his final run to reclaim the lead. As soon as he finished, Shaun let out such a release of a motion — such an incredible outburst of joy, tears, and just primal screams. This reaction continued when he found out his score was good enough for the gold. Even after the commercial break, he still had tears of joy while he was hugging family friends and fellow competitors.
How long had he been governing those emotions? What was that joy transformed from? Was he using his anxiousness, his fear, all the tools in his bag not to repress his emotions, but instead to focus him down on his first, second, and finally his third, most important run, which would determine whether he went home with a gold or silver medal? As one of the top professional athletes in the world, I imagine his mental game is just a strong as his physical. But the need to release that kind of tension is necessary for anyone.
We remember, as kids, seeing the image of the Marlboro Man. Showing little to no emotion meant that you were emotionally strong. The more adversity an athlete or a successful businessman could deal with without showing emotion meant they were mentally tough. Now, we are seeing top professional athletes, as well as top CEO’s of fortune 500 companies, men and women who must navigate large amounts of stress and uncertainty in their fields successfully, becoming more and more vested in their mental-emotional training.
Whether they receive training from a psychologist, a mental coach, or a sports psychologist, they are getting the same advice: known your emotions, govern and express your emotions in a healthy manner, and accept your emotions without judgment. What you will never hear ANY professional say to their clients is repress your emotions.
What an incredible gift it was for me and anyone else who was watching to see Shaun White’s full expression of his joy, with tears of happiness and hugs and celebration. It allowed us all an inside view that even the best competitors have feelings. They may look bullet-proof, but they have gone through the sadness and disappointment of defeat, as well as the anger of missing a shot or failing. They have been under the heavy weight of pressure, no different than the one you may have felt when you are about to give a presentation to your boss that you’ve worked on for 3 months. And they have expressed their emotions to loved ones, friends, mental-emotional professionals, and some have even been brave enough to show them on ESPN at the Olympics .
Feelings are universal. What we can take from watching the best professionals in the world, ones like Shaun, is not just the inspiration that they give us from their physical feats, but their ability to govern themselves and their emotions in incredibly difficult moments. And since they aren’t superhuman, with serious training and being mindful of ourselves, it’s possible for all of us.
