I was so inspired by seventeen year old snowboarding phenom, Chloe Kim. She was interviewed at the 2018 Winter Olympics after winning her first Gold Medal.  She was asked what freedom felt like when she took her last run knowing she had already won the Gold Medal.

She said she wouldn't be satisfied with the run that got her the Gold Medal knowing she could have improved upon it.  Her first run scored 93.75. Second run was scored a lower. But her last run...it scored 98.25!

Still, she wasn't satisfied.

A perfect score is 100. She earned the Gold with the 93.75 score yet she saw the gap of 6.25 points as an opportunity to do better; EVEN knowing she already clinched the Gold!

Let’s just pretend for a minute that it was me up there.

I panic’d doing round offs from the balance beam back in my gymnastics days let alone flying through the air like her!  But go with me here. To start, I would have been in disbelief that I nailed it.

The voice inside my head would have sounded something like this:

“Oh geez - the judges must have mistook me for someone else. There must have been extenuating circumstances to explain why they gave me that score.  I hope it’s really final before they find something in the replays that I did wrong."

Then I would have heard, “I hope everyone still likes me. I know everyone is making a big deal over me but I really want to fit in with my teammates. I feel bad with all the attention I’m getting. What can I say to downplay myself and make everyone else feel better?”

Next, the voice prior to Run 3 would be saying, “Maybe I should just do enough to get by.  I don’t want to get hurt, showboat, make a mistake, or look foolish so everyone thinks my first run was just a fluke.  I already have the Gold right? Why push it?”  I would have worked myself up into such a state that I probably would have seriously injured myself.

But not Chloe. 

She felt the energy of the crowd, knew her family was there supporting her, believed in her abilities and saw an opportunity to do better.

She went for it. 

But not before she tweeted she wished she ate the other half of her breakfast sandwich as she was getting “hangry”…WHILE she was waiting for her next run!

What’s the message for you?

1. There’s always room for improvement (growth). Even when you think things are “good enough”, why not go for more? Why not become the best version of you in spite of the risks? Could you be curious about what lies on the other side?
2. There’s freedom in knowing you’ve given your best and you didn't settle for good enough aka playing it safe!
3. Stop listening to the voice in your head which makes you live life "small".  Be Bold! Stop worrying about what others think.
4. Believe in yourself. What could you do if you believed in yourself?  You are so powerful.

There's nothing more empowering than doing something you told yourself you couldn't.

Let me know what you would do if the GOLD Medal wasn’t enough!

In Courage,

Pam

Take a listen to Chloe Here.