Olympic Mindset with Olympian Tasha Danvers

Olympic Mindset with Tasha Danvers

Can you be an Olympian? Well, whether or not you can physically make the team, you CAN have an Olympic Mindset! Having the right mindset is key to living your life to the max. In this interview I chat with two time Olympian and Bronze medalist Tasha Danvers about how you can have an Olympic Mindset!

Tasha was recruited by University of Southern California (USC) for track. After not being interested in their offer at first her friend convinced her to reconsider the offer. In the end she decided to attend. Talking with her today she said that she would make that decision again and again. It was such a great decision because it opened up many other opportunities and chances for her to grow her sport and her mindset.

She learned many things as a student athlete. One of them was balance. It was tricky to balance school, sports, and work. Competing your sport takes a lot of physical and mental energy so you need to learn how to balance your school work and social life. Tasha strongly suggests finding a mentor. Reach out to someone who has walked the walk. Someone who has been in those shoes before. They can offer suggestions, help guide you and in the long run, help you have success. This doesn’t just apply to student athletes, it applies to EVERYTHING in life. The greatest and best person you can think of has had mentors. They have reached out and asked for help. It’s not a weakness, it’s a strength. Ideally having an in person mentor is best but you can also use books, podcasts, and other platforms. Life is a community journey. So no matter where you are or what you are pursuing, reach out and find a mentor.

Danvers is a self-diagnosed personal development addict. She loves to learn and grow. Some of her current favorites are Tony Robbins, Russel Brunsen, Oprah, and Dr. Joe Spinoza to just name a few. Throughout her personal development journey Tasha has been impacted by mindset. There are common mindset themes in everything she has pursued. Now, she teaches people how to have the best mindset possible. Some of the strategies she has learned and now teaches are:

Visualization

Tasha reached out to Olympian and Gold Medalist, Sally Gunnell. Sally told her that it’s 80% mental and 20% physical. She visualized what the competition would look like. Everything from the lanes she would run in, people passing her, her passing others, winning, etc. She would mentally go through the race multiple times a day running through different scenarios. Tasha put this strategy into practice, albeit not to the extent Sally did. As she was training for the Olympic Qualifiers her performance wasn’t as strong as she would have liked. In the qualifiers she didn’t perform as well as another competitor. But because she believed, she visualized, and trusted the process she was selected.

Another example Tasha shares is when she had a sneaker sponsor. She was so afraid of losing the sponsorship that she started to hoard all of the shoes. She had a scarcity mindset. Shortly after hoarding the shoes, Tasha got the call that they dropped her sponsorship. Having an abundance mindset is huge and does make a big difference. While having an abundance mindset is difficult at times it is worth every bit of it. You need to train your mind and work to have control over it. By learning to control your mind you can maintain success for a long period of time.

When Tasha looked back on her journey and growth she realized life is filled with energy. And visualization is great but it’s not quite the right term. She prefers to use realization instead of visualization. You give the energy out and manifest it to realize your dreams and goals. Visualizing it is part of it but not the entire thing. You need to visualize it, keep the energy flowing towards it, and then manifest it into a realization. While this may sound easy to just think about what you want it takes work. It rarely happens instantly. You need to keep the energy going. You may need to release mental blocks, self limiting beliefs, and other things to help you realize your goal. To achieve your goal and live your dream, keep the energy flowing, clear the pathways so it can go freely, and continue to do the work.

Have a coach or mentor

Sometimes, we are too close to ourselves to see the truth. For example, we can claim that we are positive and maybe we are the majority of the time but there could be moments when we are not positive. A coach or mentor can help point out the areas where we are blocking the energy. We are too close to see and recognize it while another person can easily see it and help point us in the right direction. Plus having a coach or mentor can help you reach your goals and dreams faster because they can offer you the tools needed for success.

Do personal development

Take the time to learn about yourself, how to improve your body, and your mind. Almost every successful person has done personal development. And believe it or not there are successful people out there who shouldn’t be as successful based on their past. But because they dived into personal development and did the work to improve themselves that they grew and achieved what they did.

Do the “WORK” - Believe

You need to be intentional and build your beliefs. Beliefs are just thoughts you’ve had over and over again. Whether you came up with it or your parents, community, or society gave it to you. So if you want a new belief, you need to have those thoughts over and over again. Tasha says the first thing you need to do is to identify the beliefs that aren’t serving you. Realize what those beliefs are and then leave them behind. Replace the non-serving beliefs with your new ones. Create and grow those beliefs with present tense affirmations. Things like “I am a businessman/woman”, “I am confident”, etc. If you feel like you’re lying you can use a stepping stone like “I am learning….” or “I am becoming…” Danvers says to not use these steppings too long as it may hold you back. Connect your feelings and emotions with the affirmations. Feelings are the energy of the body and thoughts is the energy of the mind. This bond between the two strengthens the energy you send out. By sending out this energy you are attracting similar energy. Essentially you are calling your affirmations, your dreams, and your thoughts to you.

Then start to do the physical work that helps you reach your goals. Sending out energy is a major part of it but you can’t just leave it there. You need to be proactive and do the physical work. Do the tasks that are needed help you get to your goals.

Lastly, Tasha suggests the book Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza. In the book, Dr. Dispenza breaks down energy, belief, and puts science behind it. If you are sceptical or unsure, read the book and see if it sheds some light on this area for you. Learn, grow, and improve yourself. What’s the worst that can happen. You won’t change or maybe, potentially, you will accelerate your growth! Trying something new can’t hurt. So give realization, affirmations, and all of this a try!

If you would like to learn more about Tasha Danvers or work with her check out her website www.tashadanvers.com or www.tasha360.com! I would love to hear what you think about the Olympic Mindset with Tasha Danver and the entire idea of realizations and mindset leading to growth! Please send me a message on social media at @Jonesinfor or email me at smj190@gmail.com. Thanks!