You work your whole life towards one goal… and you come up short by a fraction of a second. How do you bounce back from that? How do you move forward?

On day 11 of The Game Inside The Games, gold medalist Nastia Liukin and high-performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais explore psychological and emotional complexities that athletes face when they fall just short of a gold medal or podium. 

They discuss the flood of emotions that can overwhelm an athlete in pivotal moments, the importance of processing those emotions, and how to use past experiences to fuel future success. 

With personal stories and expert insights, this conversation pulls back the curtain on what an athlete experiences when they come up just short – and how they can turn the agony of “almost” into a driving force for excellence.

Episode Insights By Microsoft Copilot:

1. The Power of Emotional Processing: Athletes need to work through their emotions after a near-miss to access the valuable information these feelings provide, helping them refine their focus and improve future performance.
2. Acceptance as a Key to Moving Forward: Accepting what has happened, whether it’s a near win or a loss, is crucial for athletes to move forward and continue striving for success without being haunted by past events.
3. The Significance of Self-Talk: Maintaining positive self-talk, especially in the moments leading up to a competition, can help athletes focus on what they need to do to succeed, rather than dwelling on fears of failure.
4. Moving Forward: Experiencing a narrow defeat can be a powerful motivator, pushing athletes to work harder and make adjustments that can lead to greater success in the future.

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This episode is brought to you by KPMG and Microsoft.

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Learn more at https://kpmg.com/microsoftcopilot

“If you’re waiting for the games to be able to figure out how to work with your emotions, you’re very, very late.”

Finding Your Best

If you want to dive deeper into the mental skills we discuss on these episodes, be sure to check out our Finding Your Best course where we teach the same 16 high-performance principles, mindset skills, and wellbeing practices that Dr. Mike has used to train 30+ gold medalists, Fortune 50 CEOs and more.