5.10 Ronda Rousey: Fighting Fear

“People say to me all the time, ‘You have no fear.’ I tell them, ‘No, that’s not true. I’m scared all the time.’ You have to have fear in order to have courage. I’m a courageous person because I’m a scared person.” - Ronda Rousey

Do you ever get scared?

We often think athletes are superhuman and don’t feel nervous or fearful, but this isn’t true. Even the best athletes feel fear, but they have become good at having courage and doing what they need to do, despite fear, and with courage.

Ronda Rousey was one of the meanest, toughest, and most successful MMA fighters in the history of the sport.  She once said, “People say to me all the time, ‘You have no fear.’ I tell them, ‘No, that’s not true. I’m scared all the time.’ You have to have fear in order to have courage. I’m a courageous person because I’m a scared person.”

Proactively, I fight fear with proper preparation. The more prepared I am, the more confident I am.

When I have negative thoughts before big moments, I acknowledge them, think about what I love most about playing or coaching, and then just do the next right thing, afraid or not.

When I acknowledge the fear and name it, I find that it is less powerful than running from it. When I think about what I love about it, it overpowers my fear. But at the end of the day, I decide to do what I am supposed to do to the best of my ability, afraid or not.

Question of the Day: Do you get afraid, and how do you overcome it?