Simone Biles + Naomi Osaka Know about Coping with Mental Health Struggles

You’ve been told that winners never quit + quitter never win. But what if that wasn't true!? 😲

Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles are just two elite athletes who have recently challenged this concept. 

In fact, both of them have been open in the media about their own mental health struggles as elite athletes

That's why in this video, I'm gonna be sharing five things that they know about coping with mental health struggles. Maybe you can pick up a few strategies along the way.

Click here to watch the video:

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Here are 5 things Simone Biles + Naomi Osaka know about coping with mental health struggles:

MENTAL HEALTH IS HEALTH

That's right. Mental health is not separate from regular health. It is part of our physical and emotional wellbeing and health too.

When it comes to our mental health struggles, our physical and mental self-care impact one another.

So when you take care of your mental health, it helps improve your mindset and focus, so that you can achieve optimal performance in things like athletic competitions.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT ALLChoosing not to compete in all the competitions is not going to necessarily make or break you as an elite athlete.

If you're an elite athlete, you're an elite athlete.

Simone Biles still has seven, count 'em, seven gold medals. They ain't going anywhere. She has proven herself time and time again.

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We know how Simone Biles performs, whether it's in the actual event or practicing and training for the event, we have seen her outperform over, and over, and over again.

And she probably will continue to do that. But she can't do that if she's not taking care of her mental health.

When she tuned in and she checked in to ask "is this going to be more helpful or harmful to push myself?" and she made that decision to prioritize taking her mental health and wellbeing seriously, that was an excellent message to student-athletes that you don't have to participate in all the competitions.

And I think that's pretty amazing!

YOU ARE YOUR STRONGEST ADVOCATE

There are a lot of different stakeholders at play in these different elite athletic competitions.

→ Your reputation

→ Your sponsors

→ Your team managers

→ Your coaches

→ All these people who have invested and supported you, even your fans.

It's a lot of pressure to consider.

You're still a human being.

You have needs. You need rest. You need to recuperate.

 

And taking care of your mental health is just as important as taking care of your physical health because it's the same thing. The two go hand-in-hand.

COMPARE TO YOURSELF, NOT OTHERS

It can be really easy to get caught up in the rankings, and who's where, but that is just a snapshot in time.

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That doesn't take away from the fact that maybe in practice you did way better than when you performed at an event or competition.

When you can challenge yourself to stay focused on your best performance, from how you've performed to how you will be performing, that is key to maintaining your own mental health.

I talk with the teens that I work with all the time about this idea of focusing on being likable, rather than being liked.

You'll be much SO much happier because you cannot please everybody. 

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH SUPPORT

When you have good, supportive friends and family to help you through these times and struggles, you will be way better for it.

We know in mental health, having strong social connections can actually be a protective factor to enhancing your mental health and wellness.

It's one of the reasons why I love running my Teen Growth Therapy Groups. But you don't need to be in group therapy to create those social structures around you.

In fact, Naomi Osaka openly talked about how, when she decided to opt-out of participating in Wimbledon, even though she was ranked number two at the time, she did so, so that she could spend time resting, and recuperating, and connecting with friends and family

If you happen to struggle in that area, you might wanna check out my video right over here, where I'm talking all about how you can make new friends:

→ Click here to watch this video on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/tNoD25Ux0AI

And if you found the information in this video useful and helpful, you know what to do, go ahead and share it.

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