Reflection After Team USA Trials

Reflection After Team USA Trials

As I reflect this morning, I think about how this Team USA Trials impacted Bella Love, Barbi, and me.

There were so many elite performers here. So much intention and preparation. So many goals set. Some were achieved. Some were not. And that can hurt.

The mind works best when it has something clear and close to aim at. When the target is defined, focus sharpens, energy increases, and progress feels real. Momentum builds.

But sometimes, even when you do everything right, the outcome does not follow. And when the work does not lead to the result you hoped for, it stings. That is when short term disappointment can blur long term vision.

Instead of lowering standards, which is not an option, you shorten the time horizon. You shift attention away from outcomes you cannot control and toward actions you can control. Sometimes what happens right now is exactly what creates momentum for what comes next.

I am learning this. Bella is learning this. Barbi is learning this.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. Big goals are not achieved in weeks when you are playing the long game. That is why systems matter more than outcomes. The goal becomes the natural result of daily behaviors, not something you chase.

Bella’s dream is to make Team USA. It did not happen this time. If she chooses to keep that dream, she will need to prepare for it by building systems that allow her to come back better than before. Momentum comes first. Motivation follows.

So we are asking ourselves one simple question.

What is the long term goal we want for our lives one year from now?

Then we ask another.

What are one, two, or three things we can do today that increase the probability of reaching that goal?

That is how momentum is built. That is how growth happens. And that is how the long game is played.