In short
Podcast Notes: The Daily Motivation - Episode: Turn Your Fear Of Disappointing Others Into Unshakable Confidence | Mikaela Shiffrin
Episode Overview In this episode of *The Daily Motivation*, host Lewis Howes interviews Olympic ski champion Mikaela Shiffrin. The discussion focuses on the pressures of competition, particularly the fear of disappointing others, and how Shiffrin has learned to transform anxiety into confidence.
Key Themes
- Performance Anxiety: Shiffrin reflects on the immense pressure she faced after early successes, which led to heightened expectations and anxiety.
- Realistic Expectations: The episode emphasizes the importance of recognizing when expectations—both from oneself and from others—become unrealistic.
- Mental and Emotional Challenges: Shiffrin discusses the mental toll of racing, emphasizing that emotional fatigue can be just as debilitating as physical exhaustion.
Key Insights
- Early Success and Rising Expectations
- Shiffrin dominated her sport, winning most races by significant margins (over two seconds).
- Following a season of unprecedented wins, expectations shifted dramatically:
- Winning by smaller margins (e.g., six-tenths of a second) led to public perception questioning her speed.
- The Impact of Media and Public Expectations
- Shiffrin felt overwhelmed by media scrutiny and public expectations, which heightened her anxiety.
- The fear of disappointing those who expected her to maintain her earlier performance levels became a central source of stress.
- Coping with Performance Anxiety
- Shiffrin experienced physical symptoms of anxiety, such as vomiting before races.
- She learned that winning alone was not enough; there was pressure to win by larger margins consistently.
- A New Perspective on Recovery and Performance
- Following a period of intense competition (seven races in ten days), Shiffrin recognized the need for mental and physical recovery:
- She discovered that sometimes a single recovery day was crucial to returning to form.
- Evolving Understanding of Excellence
- Shiffrin acknowledges that excellence does not require exceeding unrealistic standards every time.
- Winning by smaller margins, though less celebrated, is still a significant achievement.
Conclusion Mikaela Shiffrin's journey illustrates the complex relationship between success, expectation, and personal wellbeing. By recognizing when expectations are unrealistic and prioritizing mental health, athletes can foster confidence and resilience.
Additional Resources
- [Full Episode](https://greatness.lnk.to/1470)
- [Sign Up for the Greatness Newsletter](http://www.greatness.com/newsletter)
- Lewis Howes' Book: *Make Money Easy* - [Learn More](http://makemoneyeasybook.com)
Call to Action Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their own expectations, consider the pressures they place on themselves, and understand the importance of mental health in pursuit of excellence.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOSetting High Expectations
0:45 to 2:30
Mikaela Shiffrin discusses the pressure of high expectations in her career.
“The competition's getting so much better.”
The Impact of Media Perception
2:30 to 4:06
Shiffrin shares how media narratives fueled her performance anxiety.
“Was it more worried about what the people closest to you were going to say?”
Mental and Emotional Drain of Racing
4:06 to 5:40
Mikaela explains the mental challenges of racing and the importance of recovery.
“They kind of try to get into your mind and they say, they ask a question, but it's insinuates that you feel a certain way instead of just asking how you feel.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Hi, my name is Lewis Howes and welcome to the Daily Motivation Show.
0:12Pretty much every single race besides one, I won by over two seconds. That's crazy. And then the one race was my comeback race. It was five tenths or something. And that season is like the worst thing that happened to me because it set everyone's expectations that I was now going to win every race by over two seconds for the rest of my career. So I came back the next season, or, you know, when you finish the season, you have your summer period training, blah, blah, blah. First race of the season was in Finland for 2015-16. And I won it by 7 tenths, 6 tenths of a second. She's slowing down. Yeah.
0:51Yes. She's getting slow. I don't know. Are you worried? The competition's getting so much better. Are you getting worse? And it was this whole, it was a weird, weird thing where I'd never experienced a victory where people put such a negative spin on it. And that was, that like then set me into the next phase of my career, which was a lot of like performance anxiety. Really? And it all surrounded around like what media would say and what people around me would say. And not the closest people, but even then, like even those closest to me would be like, oh, it'd be so great if you could just like stomp on this race like if you could win it by a second too so like we want to get back there and and i get it i just was like i don't you're doing the best you can do i'm doing the best i can i don't think we're there like i actually think the competition is much stronger and what like that happened that was a moment in time or a season in time and i don't think we're going to be in a place where I win races by two seconds anymore.
2:03And, but that expectation that then lasted, it's like a four, it's like a four to five year delay, like took people four to five years to catch up to the expectations I set in the beginning of my career. And then it took them four to five years to figure out that that might not be the, what's going to happen all the time. It's just, it was just weird. So there's this phase where I was puking at the start of every, really terrible. Every race? Almost every race. Just because of anxiety? Because of anxiety. Was it more worried about what the people closest to you were going to say? What the media were going to say?
2:40No, it was media. It was like fear of losing, more just fear of what disappointment comes when you don't exceed the expectations. I'd been really used to kind of exceeding people's expectations. And then it was like, I'm still winning, but just winning alone isn't good enough anymore. I actually have to win by more. And if I'm going to exceed people's expectations, now I need to make winning by two seconds, three seconds a regular thing. That's a lot of pressure. I mean, it is and it isn't. It's sort of, it's so much that it's like, it's not realistic. And I knew it at the time, but I didn't know how to explain that.
3:20And it just, like, it's taken me a long time to get to this point now where I just realize that people will catch up. And I also realize, like, during that period of time, you know, after every race, we go through the mix zone and go through all the media. And I felt like the media was directing questions in a very negative way if I didn't win by a certain amount. or if I had a really like strong reaction one race, they were like, why is this one so much more important to you? And those are all fair questions. My mind would go there if I was them as well. But I would really answer, I would take their question so literally and answer to that.
4:04And now I realize people still do that. They kind of try to get into your mind and they say, they ask a question, but it's insinuates that you feel a certain way instead of just asking how you feel. Well, sometimes, and there's nothing wrong with it. Honestly, it's just like, if you ask the same question over and over, and you want to word it a different way, and sometimes a reporter might ask, like, you know, is it really disappointing that you came in second this race? This was this season when it was the 85th. Okay, so there were two slalom races in a row. in the Czech Republic. And I won the first one.
4:47That was my 85th victory. And then the second day, everybody was thinking this is going to be your 86th. And for everyone around me, it was a done deal. And I was not there. Mentally, emotionally, you were just disconnected. I was tired. It was a really, really long stretch of races. I raced seven races in 10 days. And with travel literally across Europe, It's just as much emotionally draining as it is physically because you have to mentally and emotionally prepare for hours before every race. Racing is probably more mentally and emotionally draining. Physically, you're prepared for really whatever it can get.
5:27You've been training so hard. And then they all just get intertwined. And then you're like, why don't my muscles work anymore? I just, and sometimes all I need is just one day, one recovery day. And then I'm literally back to it. But I just. Back to back was tough. Yeah.
5:44I have a brand new book called Make Money Easy. And if you're looking to create more financial freedom in your life, you want abundance in your life, and you want to stop making money hard in your life, but you want to make it easier, you want to make it flow, you want to feel abundant, then make sure to go to makemoneyeasybook.com right now and get yourself a copy. I really think this is going to help you transform your relationship with money this moment moving forward. We have some big guests and content coming up. Make sure you're following. And thank you for listening to this episode of The Daily Motivation Show.
6:27Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of The Daily Motivation. And I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to click the link in the description. That will take you to the full episode of our main podcast on the School of Greatness. And if you are loving the daily motivation, please follow us over on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave us a review over on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you want more exclusive content and ad-free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you wanna get even more inspiration from our world-class guests and learn how to improve your life and take it to the next level, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com slash newsletter.
7:18Again, have an amazing day and I'll see you tomorrow with another episode of the Daily Motivation Show.
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Check out the full episode: https://greatness.lnk.to/1470
Mikaela Shiffrin won almost every race by over two seconds in her breakthrough season. The next year, when she won by six tenths of a second, people said she was getting slow. The victory itself wasn't questioned, but suddenly winning alone wasn't good enough. She had to win by more. This shift created something she'd never experienced before: performance anxiety so severe she was vomiting at the start of almost every race. Not from fear of losing, but from fear of the disappointment that came with not exceeding expectations that had become completely unrealistic. Even people closest to her would say things like "it'd be so great if you could just stomp on this race." She knew the expectations weren't realistic, but she didn't know how to explain that. So she raced anyway, and people took four to five years to catch up to the fact that her early dominance was a moment in time, not a permanent standard.
The breakthrough came from recognizing that exhaustion isn't weakness. After winning her 85th World Cup victory, everyone assumed number 86 the next day was a done deal. But she'd raced seven times in ten days across Europe. She was mentally and emotionally disconnected, not because she lacked skill or drive, but because she was human and tired. Sometimes you just need one recovery day. She's learned to recognize when expectations are unrealistic, when media questions are trying to insinuate feelings rather than ask honestly, and most importantly, that people will eventually catch up. Excellence doesn't mean you have to exceed impossible standards every single time. Sometimes winning by six tenths is still extraordinary, even if two seconds was once possible.
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