During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver we saw a very interesting emotion come into play.  Fear.

It was the first time we saw athletes decide that it was better not to compete than to compete. The cost of
competing outweighed the benefits of competing.

It brought outrage.

Specifically we saw a number of the bobsledders pull out of competition because it was just too much of a chance. The possibility of them having a crash was quite high, and the chance of making it was like threading the eye of a needle. For some, the benefits of competing did not outweigh the risk of competing. As it was, we saw seven sleds crash on the first day of the men’s four man competition. The Austrian sled was torn apart in the back, and the Slovakian sled (Which cost more than $100,000US) snapped in half.

Everyone was on edge after the death of the Georgian Luge athlete earlier in the games, but for many athletes this was not enough to keep them from competing. As a high performance athlete myself I can relate. The thought process goes something like this, “It’s a shame he had such a bad crash, but I am a better athlete so it won’t happen to me.”

You may have heard in your day words like, suck it up. It doesn’t hurt that bad. Get back on the horse. And my all time favorite, “Pain is temporary. Glory is forever. Chicks dig scars.”

We all get to a point where we look at other lesser athletes and think, “That’s ok for him, but I’ll be fine.”

But for all athletes we get to a point where the demands of our sport are not fine. They get too great. As a lacrosse goalie I often found myself getting hit by balls that hurt. They hurt so much my mind was one the fear of getting hurt from the ball rather than on trying to save the ball. As a luge and bobsled athlete I have been challenged by tracks but never so challenged that I was afraid of the track.

There is a difference between being challenged and between being afraid. When you are challenged by something your brain can see the benefits that will come when you succeed. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. There is a mountain to climb, and to be overcome. There is a sense of achievement once that challenge is mastered. The challenge is motivating.

Fear on the other hand is demotivating. It makes you want to quit. It raises the question, “Is this worth it?” And usually the answer is no.

If we are learning however, we can manage fear. It’s like learning to lift weights. You may not be able to lift a lot of weight today, but with progression, and some planning you can eventually lift large weights. If you were to try and lift a lot of weight today you may get injured. The idea of lifting so much may scare you, especially if you are squatting it. The idea that if you don’t lift the weight it could crush you is demotivating. However, you can lift a little bit of weight. You get under it today and have success. That success motivates you to come back and try it again another day. And on that day you are stronger so you can lift a little more. Until one day, you can lift the weight that you were originally fearful of.

Fear is not motivating. But it can be managed and even lessened so that you can be motivated by the challenge.

Challenges bring excitement. Excitement brings motivation. And from motivation we can accomplish…anything.

Jonathan – The Goalie Guru

PS. Please leave your comments below on a time when you overcame your fear and turned them into challenges.

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