Overcoming fear is essential to succeed not only in competition but in life according to BYU dive athlete Brooklyn Larson.
20 year old junior Brooklyn Larson recalled a time where she overcame fear while diving at NCAA zones on the 7 meter platform.
At this point , she had only been practicing platform for “2 years”. In this moment her coach wanted her to learn a back two and half. After realizing she had to try a terrifying tick the fear set in.
“for the first time in my 7 years of dive I actually cried learning a new dive!” stated the Four-time All-MPSF performer.
Brooklyn said that the fear came from her thoughts stating, “I do not know how this going to go and if I smack, I can really get hurt”
Her coach noticed the fear settling in and immobilizing Brooklyn. He pulled her of the platform and had her do a trick he knew she could do no problem a “back double”.
After the confidence boosting back double the cougar athlete went back up telling herself “You need to get over your fear, its going to be fine, and if anything happens, I’m not going to die!”
Once at the top she said I “took a breath, said you got it, and counted myself down” and went for it landing perfectly.
Brooklyn learned the power of positive thinking from this experience. She realized that positive thinking is not only applicable to dive but to life as well.
She talked about a time she was with her counselor planning out the upcoming semester and explained to her counselor that she was “worried about taking American heritage”.
When the counselor replied to her saying “you jump off of 30-foot-tall platforms and your scared to take this class.”
The diver realized in that moment when she thinks to herself “I can do hard things, I can do scary things, I just have to tell myself I’m not scared” she can overcome fear.
By talking to herself in a positive manor it “hypes” herself up and “encourages” her to do anything she sets her mind to.
Upon reflecting of these times in her life she went on to explain that having the right people in your life can help you to overcome fear.
Brooklyn noticed that not only did she have her coaches and counselors to behind her, but she has her teammates.
She said that when she is scared, she relies on her teammates to “support and lift each other up” to accomplish the task at hand.
When you have the right people in your corner it allows you to think to yourself “what’s the worst that can happen” Larson said when taking a risk.
Brooklyn knew that no matter where you go, life is filled with fear. She learned from diving the way to overcome fear is through positive thinking, and reaffirming yourself and listening to others.