Happy New Year everyone!
I apologize for the brief hiatus in blogs. I read all the time about how consistency brings results, and its crazy how as soon as I skipped one blog that quickly turned into missing multiple blog updates.
But today brings a new year, and with that an opportunity to start fresh again (even if the time constraint of a year is a bit contrived.)
Gaining confidence has been a huge focus for me this year, and I’ve written about it a lot previously. I still think it is one of the most important things to reflect on because when I’m feeling confident in skiing and in life, I second guess less, and execute with more precision and accuracy.
I think confidence comes from all different places for different people. Some athletes have a loud and public confidence, and seem to feed off of the whole world knowing and believing they are feeling good. Others have a quiet and concealed confidence that comes from within. Some can simply trick their mind into being confident whenever. I think my confidence has always come from working as hard as possible and knowing I did everything I could in preparation. This is why taking a break in the middle of the season has always been really hard for me. It feels like I’m taking my foot off the gas and getting lapped. But something very important that my friend reminded me of recently is that results don’t always come to those who work the hardest, but rather those who work the most efficiently. So with this advice in mind, I decided to go home and take a week off after my last World Cup in Val D’Isere (another blog update on those races soon :)).
I am really happy I had the opportunity to go home and reset with my family. I slept a ton, ate a ton, worked out a lot, and had some very special quality time with the whole family. I feel really lucky that my parents and siblings all care so much about me succeeding at ski racing and also being happy and successful in life. They are always the best sounding board for me and help me get out of my bubble and see things from a different perspective. And so, going home for a week was really the best way to reset and refocus for the remaining three months of the season. (Even though at times I struggled with not being on snow :))
During my time at home, my mom asked all of us to reflect on things we are proud of from the past year. I really appreciated this question, because I sometimes get too caught up in what I want to change, or improve, or get better at. But reflecting on what changes made me proud or were successful is extremely important in both acknowledging and continuing growth.
One of the things I’m most proud of that I worked on a ton this year is finding the positive in situations and looking for the silver linings. I don’t know if I was necessarily a negative person in the past, but I definitely held onto negative events or experiences or encounters longer than I should have. This year I think I got a lot better at reflecting, learning, and then moving on.
I mention this in a broad sense, but most recently this has been relevant as I continue to navigate my relationship with the US Ski Team as an independent athlete. I’m working on trying to treat every encounter with as much integrity as possible, which helps me not overthink how I’m being perceived or getting treated in addition to not taking the treatment personally.
I know I still want to make progress in this area and I think this will be a big goal moving forward as well: To continue to let go of negative experiences in the past and look for positive opportunities and experiences in the future. But I am very proud that I am much much better at this than past years.
And with that in mind, I am very much looking forward to many great opportunities in 2022!
I hope you all had fantastic holidays and are excited for the future!
Tricia
It is your musings and self awareness that are most rewarding to me. Your success on the snow will happen as an outcome of your effort and focus and confidence. Your perception of yourself as a person, and the evolution of You.1 to You.4 is the most revelatory thing for me.
#YouARETriciaMangan!!
#YouGotThisTricia
Happy New Year!
UD
👍🇺🇸🌈🥂💥🙏🍾