Tricia Mangan makes US Olympic Ski Team!
Will race Alpine Combine (Downhill + Slalom) on Feb 17th in Beijing.
BlueBird Advisory, her fans, friends, and family wish Tricia a fabulous Olympic adventure and leave NOTHING on the slopes!
Read about her mindset – 3 weeks out! Finding balance and real excitement
Tricia Mangan
Jan 27
When I learned about the Olympics last week, I was excited but didn’t feel anywhere near the emotions I felt the first time I was named four years ago. This was partly because the first time around, I had already come to terms with not being named and wasn’t expecting the call at all (I was added as an alternate after they initially named the team).
The second reason is that I tend to ‘doomsday’ events which essentially means whenever I get exciting news or am looking forward to something, I immediately think about all the things that could go wrong.
I didn’t know ‘doomsdaying’ was an actual thing until I read Brene Brown’s book Dare to Lead, where she discusses our tendency to do this. She says it’s a safety mechanism to prevent ourselves from getting hurt or embarrassed in the future.
But, she also said it’s extremely unhealthy because we should allow ourselves to feel all emotions to their full extent: bask in the excitement and be okay with feeling disappointment if something unforeseen happens.
I think this is a vital lesson to embrace the moment and everything it brings fully, which I have been working really hard at this year.
When I look back at four years ago when I qualified for the 2018 Olympics, I can’t help feeling tremendously proud of how far I’ve come.
Four years ago, I was so miserable. I cried almost every day that season, feeling completely defeated, lonely, and directionless despite having some of my best results. This year could not be more different.
I’m still facing the same challenges, struggles, and frustrations, but I’ve been able to handle each setback with growing determination and motivation.
The biggest difference is that I feel totally confident in my choice to be here. I also have learned to lean more on my support system, ask people for advice, reach out to friends when I’m down and keep looking for silver linings with the focus primarily on “how can I get better at skiing” rather than letting results totally dictate my emotions.
Go, Tricia, Go! Wisdom at 24.
It’s all about inputs – not the outputs. focus on what we can control. #stoicism
