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Quick Lift: How to Handle Pressure and Stop Comparing Yourself (Olympic Gold Mindset) · Loud & Lifted

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  What if I told you an Olympic gold medalist still
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  hears the same thoughts we do? I don't deserve
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  to be here. What if I mess this up? Everyone
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  is watching. Today's quick lift is Olympic level
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  mindset training from Charlotte Worthington,
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  BMX freestyle Olympic gold medalist. Because
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  the way she handles fear, pressure, comparison
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  and expectations is exactly what we need for
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  our work day. Welcome to Loud and Lifted Quick
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  Lift, the under 10 minute episode where we turn
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  big insights into small, repeatable moves you
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  can actually use this week. I'm your host Betsy
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  Hamm. Today, we're pulling the most actionable
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  lessons from my conversation with Charlotte Worthington,
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  and you do not need a BMX bike to use these.
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  Thank goodness. You just need a moment that matters.
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  Let's get into it. Takeaway number one. Opportunity
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  isn't luck, it's a decision. Charlotte shared
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  something wild. She had been riding BMX for only
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  about a year when this massive opportunity showed
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  up. She got noticed and suddenly there was a
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  real path where she thought, wait. There's a
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  chance here. I can go somewhere with this sport."
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  Now, she was super clear. Yes, the stars aligned.
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  And the timing was there. But then she had to
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  work her ass off. And she said yes to this path
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  before she probably felt completely confident
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  or even actually know where it was going to head.
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  Sometimes opportunity arrives before the confidence
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  does. Your job isn't to feel ready. Your job
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  is to respond like a pro and capitalize on the
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  opportunity and then work your ass off. Action
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  item, the opportunity contract. So write this
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  down. If there's an opportunity in front of you
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  that you just haven't been sure if you should
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  pursue, write it down. And then say how you're
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  going to honor it. What are you going to do?
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  And then choose one behavior over the next seven
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  days that would help you move this forward. One
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  small behavior, one big identity shift. Take
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  away number two. Pressure is practice and you
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  can train your thoughts. Charlotte said something
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  I love, people don't realize you can practice
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  your thought process for high pressure and her
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  case even dangerous situations. That's not just
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  for mentally tough people. Her visualization
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  isn't just see the run, it's predicting what
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  the thoughts will be when how they're going to
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  show up. I'm going to feel like I don't deserve
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  to be here. I'm going to feel like I'm going
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  to mess up. Everyone's intimidating. I'm going
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  to overthink everything." She said those thoughts
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  might appear and that's normal. The key is planning
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  to how you respond and that's the training. She
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  said she uses tools like breathing and getting
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  present and visualization. She visualizes the
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  moment and she predicts the thoughts and feelings
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  that will show up. during that moment, because
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  those thoughts are going to appear whether you
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  invited them or not. So action item here is have
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  a thought rehearsal. Pick one upcoming moment
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  this week. Maybe it's a tough conversation, a
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  presentation, a negotiation, a big meeting. And
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  think about it. The moment is a tough conversation
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  with one of my employees. The thoughts I expect
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  to show up are, I'm nervous. She's going to get
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  mad at me. Whatever those thoughts are, write
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  them down. And then have your response plan.
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  Maybe it's the breathwork, maybe it's a truth
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  statement, and also it's being prepared before
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  you get to that point. Because the goal isn't
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  going to be to eliminate the nerves. The goal
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  is to respond well. The nerves are going to be
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  there. Takeaway number three, non -attachment
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  to the outcome creates calm. Charlotte talked
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  about going into the Olympics, her first Olympics,
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  with the mindset that she was fully prepared
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  to walk away with nothing because for her the
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  win was that she was there she was even at the
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  Olympics that's called non -attachment and it's
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  not I don't care it's I care a lot but I'm not
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  gonna let the results hijack my performance or
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  even the experience of being there she said so
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  much of her sport is out of her control and this
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  allowed her to be present take the risk stay
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  calm and just enjoy the moment Action item there's
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  things you can control and there's things you
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  can't control right before that big moment So
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  whatever that big moment is maybe it's an important
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  meeting that's coming up right down. What's in
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  your control? It's preparation your tone your
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  clarity how you listen how you ask how you show
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  up What's not in your control is other people's
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  reactions the final decision the room's mood
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  So, pick a process goal, be clear, stay curious,
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  don't rush, ask for the next step. And when you
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  stop gripping to the outcome, you get your brain
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  back. Takeaway number four, the expectation trap
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  after success. Then Charlotte shared after her
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  first Olympics where she really didn't have expectations
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  and she walked away with a gold medal. She went
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  to her next Olympics where there was this huge
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  expectation. After she went one gold, everything
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  flipped upside down for her. Now she had this
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  immense pressure that I'm the Olympic gold medalist.
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  I have to defend my medal and she had to be the
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  best in the room. Everybody was literally gunning
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  for her. She said that mindset maybe can push
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  you short term, but it's not sustainable and
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  it's not enjoyable. She said she had the worst
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  experience at that Olympics and she felt like
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  she lost herself. This can happen to us professionally
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  as well when you get to a certain level and you
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  feel like all eyes are on you because of your
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  title or the expectation. So take a moment if
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  this is your case and think about that expectation
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  that you feel like you're carrying. And if you
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  started with a blank slate, what would you focus
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  on? So instead of I must be the best, choose
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  I'll be prepared and adaptable. And instead of
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  I can't mess up, choose I will stay present and
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  learn fast. You don't owe anyone a repeat performance
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  of your greatest hits. And the last key takeaway
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  and my absolute favorite is swap comparison for
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  admiration. Charlotte admitted she was a lone
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  wolf for a long time, totally comfortable doing
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  her own solo thing. And then post -Tokyo, everything
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  shifted. There was more tension. There was more
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  expectations. She had to be a role model now.
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  There was more people involved. And suddenly,
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  team wasn't optional. And she hit the honesty
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  bomb in an individual sport. You get stuck in
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  this ego trap of thinking, if I help them, I'm
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  making my own job harder. And in the leadership
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  version, professionally, it's if I lift her up,
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  it makes me look smaller. That mindset fuels
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  comparison, especially between women, and it's
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  exhausting. So she built a practice that changed
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  everything for her. Swap comparison for admiration.
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  Not stop comparing. Your brain needs a replacement
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  action, and it's just natural. But when another
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  woman's success triggers you, don't spiral. Don't
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  shrink. Don't assign meaning. Just admire it.
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  Learn from it and say it out loud. The action
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  item here is next time comparison hits, run the
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  script first. Admire. Wow, that's impressive.
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  She did an amazing job in that meeting. Learn.
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  What can you learn from it? I learned how she
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  handled the tough questions, how she kept the
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  conversation. positive and optimistic. And then
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  praise her. Give her credit out loud. Say, hey,
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  you did great at that meeting. I loved how you
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  handled those tough conversations and you redirected
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  everything back to your focus. Give them praise.
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  That's out loud. And then do one concrete support
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  move this week. Afterwards, share her win in
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  a meeting or send a real compliment. Make an
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  intro. Pay attention then after you admire, learn,
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  and praise. Did that support really drain you?
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  or did it stabilize you and maybe even motivate
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  you? Swap comparison for admiration. Charlotte's
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  story is such a reality check in the best way.
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  You can literally be the best in the world at
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  something and still hear the same inner noise.
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  Comparison, self -doubt, I'm not enough, spiral,
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  the pressure to prove you belong again and again.
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  So if you're feeling that this week, here's your
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  permission slip. Nothing is wrong with you. That's
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  not a character flaw. That's a human brain under
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  pressure. The difference is you don't have to
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  let it drive you. Try one of Charlotte's practices.
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  Predict the thought that will show up and pre
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  -check your response. Detach from the outcome
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  and focus on the process and what's in your control.
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  And when comparison hits, swap it for admiration.
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  Learn from it, say something, and support it
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  out loud. If this helped, share it with a friend
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  who's walking into a big room this week and follow
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  Loud & Lifted for more confidence tools, real
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  talk, and practical moves for women in leadership.
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  Until next time, stay loud and stay lifted.