On Valentine’s Day 2020, I raised the bar. The revolution has begun and a battle has been won, but the war is far from over. The American Record was taken from me. I did not quake, I did not shiver, I did not doubt. I said instead, “let’s fucking go.”

In all honesty, I didn’t know whether I would be able to put a 48ft jump together that day. But I knew that whatever happened, whatever the jump was, I was mentally prepared to step up to the challenge.

The news outlets keep saying that “This is the first time in 13 tries,” that I have beaten my competitor. I think it’s bigger than that. It wasn’t merely about beating her.

As cliche as this may sound, it was about beating myself; beating that wild, untamed, ego-based animal inside of me. Taming it. Focusing the energy on executing. Only thinking about what I DO want to happen instead of what I don’t.

Most people, especially athletes, focus their thoughts on what they don’t want to happen.

“I hope I don’t foul”…”Don’t false start, don’t false start.”…”I don’t want to lose.”…”I hope my relationship doesn’t end soon.”…”I don’t want to get fired.” By bringing that negative energy into their lives they manifest exactly what they didn’t want.

In her book, The Secret, Rhonda Byrne writes, “It really does take many negative thoughts and persistent negative thinking to bring something negative into your life. However, if you persist in thinking negative thoughts over a period of time, they will  appear in your life. If you worry about having negative thoughts, you will attract more worrying about your negative thoughts, and multiply them at the same time.”

I spoke what I WANTED to happen into existence weeks, even months in advance. “I’ll show you my first place medal when I get back,” I said to friends in France.

I visualized the perfect jump over and over again. And of course, my jump wasn’t perfect and never will be, as my coach will certainly attest to. But I’m chasing the standard of perfection, both in training and in mental preparation.

During the warmup, before the competition began, Tori took a tumble. I was practicing my approach. As I ran full speed down the runway, I took off at the board and went much higher and farther than I was expecting. My foot came down too early, missing the ground, and my body slammed against the runway. My shin, knees, and hands were scraped and throbbing.

Had I come into the meet focused solely on avoiding a bad performance or worried that I wouldn’t do well, this would have really done me in. “Of course this would happen! This is going to be a bad competition! My shin hurts! I can’t believe I fell! I’m so embarrassed!” If I had indulged in negativity prior to the meet or shifted into negativity after my fall, it would have derailed everything.

This positivity is literal and physical proof that you can fall and still rise.  Just because you stayed positive doesn’t mean that everything is going to go exactly as you wish, but obstacles are only as big as you make them out to be. Your mindset shapes your response to negativity and this, in turn, will shape the outcome.

By now we all understand the importance and power of the mind. Seek to better understand yours. Quiet the noise and challenge yourself to sit in silence. Sit with the thoughts that come, sift through the hubbub, and see what is left of you. Then speak what you want into existence.

It sounds frightening, but I believe in you.

With All the Love I Own

Tori F. Baby