Simone Biles' Secret To Olympic Success Lies In These Three Little Words
It was one of many blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments that humanised Simone Biles, who makes the extraordinary look effortless, before she took to the floor to turn, twist and tuck her way to yet another gold medal for Team USA at the Paris Olympics.
The athlete, who is now the most decorated of all time, was filmed telling herself, 'You got this' before she took to the mat on Tuesday evening; just three little words preceded by a deep inhale and exhale that served as proof that even those who make the unthinkable look like muscle memory aren't immune from needing to remind themselves of their own power. And it's in that space between the unthinkable and the unthinkable being achieved before your own eyes that a pep talk, like the seconds-long one Biles gave herself, is not only required but recommended too.
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'Giving yourself a pep talk and filling your mind with positive thoughts that are true about yourself makes you feel confident, bold and courageous and that inspires you to take action, go after your dreams and shine,' Tiwalola Ogunlesi, life coach and author of Confident and Killing It, tells ELLE UK. 'Negative thoughts on the other hand (which are often based on false assumptions) make you shrink yourself and play small.'
Ogunlesi's powers of persuasion are tried and tested; in 2023, she coached Imani-Lara Lansiquot, the third British woman ever to run 100 metres in under 11 seconds, before the athlete broke her personal best and made history. Her key advice to anybody who, while perhaps not an Olympian, may well be facing fears of the seemingly insurmountable? 'You have to wake up your inner cheerleader and challenge the self-doubt,' she says. 'When faced with a big or scary situation, remembering your past successes and visualising the future you want can be a huge confidence boost.'
Her advice for the best pep talk you can give yourself before embarking on something that feels monumental is to remember your strengths, positive traits and past successes and to repeat them to yourself in the format of 'I am...', 'Because...' and 'A time when I showed this was...'
'Visualise the positive outcome you want in the future,' she adds. 'See yourself winning, see yourself speaking with confidence, see yourself doing whatever the thing is that the fear is trying to rob you of.'
Biles, who has been open about prioritising her mental health as well as preserving her physical fortitude, admitted that she started her day with a therapy session before competing. 'At the beginning of the day, I started off with therapy so that was super exciting. And then I told her I was feeling calm and ready,' Biles said of her preparations. 'And that’s kind of exactly what happened.'
Whatever your means of arriving at success, whether it's with willing your fortunes into existence or using a therapist to calm your nerves, reminding yourself of your internal supply of power with words of affirmation is a sure-fire gold medal winner, both on and off the mat.
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