Say hello to my athlete Maddie, in her first World race competing for Canada at the Junior World Snowboarding Championships in Italy just over one week ago.
I started working with Maddie about 2 years ago now, and at that time she was extremely talented, yet she kept falling on her second run. Through consistent mental toughness coaching and training, and learning how to manage her snowboard goals while taking a full university course-load, she received the news of a lifetime about one month ago: she was one of three Canadian women selected to the Junior World Snowboarding Team.
Let’s rewind to September of last year: Maddie and I were talking about her goals, and she told me how she wanted to compete at the FISU World University Games and Junior Worlds, both in Italy. When she didn’t make the FISU team, she wasn’t discouraged, but trained harder (both physically and mentally) and had the races of her life leading into being selected for the Junior team.
Maddie is a demonstration that dreams really do come true, and they take commitment, persistence, a clear plan and definitely lots of targeted, purposeful action.
In our debrief call this week I asked Maddie what she’d like to share with other athletes like you who have similar dreams and aspirations and she said:
Once you get there, you’ve done it. So, give it your all because you have nothing to lose.
She explained that she got so caught up in the World competition that she lost her focus. She said next time, she’s just going to give it her all and have fun. She also learned how much she wants to compete on the World Cup circuit and that she realized that she’s good enough to compete at that level, she just needs to get the experience.
So, any opportunity you have to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, to the next level, take the opportunity. And enjoy it! The way you’re going to grow your ability is by pushing yourself, and you’re definitely going to fail along the way. However, if you “give it your all every time”, not only will you rapidly improve, you, like Maddie, will have the time of you life as you watch your dreams come true.
CONGRATULATIONS MADDIE! We’re very proud of you. And thank you for wanting to share your words of wisdom to inspire everyone reading today.