01 Oct Your Inner Athlete: Erik Roner Teaches Us About Mental Toughness
Dr. Haley Perlus continues with weekly tips about ways to empower “Your Inner Athlete.” This week Haley talks about the recent death of super star athlete Erik Roner and lessons to learn from his life about supplanting fear with mental toughness.
Erik Roner, super star athlete died at age 38 from injuries sustained during a freak skydiving accident in the Lake Tahoe area.
Extreme athlete Erik Roner died Monday during a team skydiving performance at a charity golf tournament for the Squaw Valley Institute in Olympic Valley. Erik was a professional skier and BASE jumper, adored in the extreme sport community for his boundless energy, fearlessness, and positive attitude.
Roner’s accident is proof that bad things do happen in the world of sport.
As a pioneer in the sport of ski BASE jumping, Roner’s death will be top-of-mind for many extreme athletes who continue to prepare and perform in their sport. So, how can these athletes block out thoughts of injury (even death) and stay focused on the task at hand?
Fear is a very popular topic in my consulting practice.
Whether an athlete suffered a bad fall, witnessed the injury of a teammate, or is all too aware of the dangerous things that can happen in sport participation, fear creates physical tension that wreaks havoc on the body’s coordination and overall ability to perform. Consequently, the chance of injury is heightened. Thus, it’s imperative that athletes, whether extreme or not, learn to cope with their fears and take back control of their physical body.
The first step to coping with fear is accepting the reality of the situation.
Falls do happen. Injuries and death can occur. This may sound harsh, but it’s the truth and it’s important to understand the consequences so that you can accept them and move on to the second step in coping with fear: choose to want it more than you fear it.
On his website, Roner ends his biography with a quote: “Faster, faster, faster until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.”
It’s obvious Erik thrived in his sport ventures and made the choice to focus on challenging, improving, and enjoying himself each day. The fear was there – no doubt about it – but it was conquered by his love for adventure and the belief he had in himself to perform.
Whether you participate in extreme sports or not, we all have fears that are based on real experiences and events. Take a moment to reflect on your fear. Accept that your fear is real and it can’t simply be pushed aside in your mind. Then, ask yourself if you want it more than you fear it. If the answer is YES, consume your thoughts will all the things you love about your sport as well as all of your strengths that will help you to perform your best. Then, put a smile on your face and have fun!
About Dr. Haley Perlus:
The event wears its name like a glove: “WOW.” The acronym is a perfect fit for Becca Tudor’s awesome Weekend of Wellness, relatively new festival (the 3rd annual gathering took place in early June) that celebrates overall fitness, including ways grow a spine, man up – yoga, kettle bell, Pilates, cycling, kids’ classes – and also get educated about health trends in general through lectures by doctors, nutritionists, and renowned experts in the field of sports psychology. Experts such as Dr. Haley Perlus, a stand-out on a long list of superstar women featured at Telluride WOW, already a no-miss event if you are on a path towards personal transformation.
I attended Haley’s lecture about the psychology behind good nutrition and overall health. The holistic contents turned out to be a back door to ways to live a healthy life in general. We were all left wanting more from this buff, blonde brainiac, so Telluride Inside… and Out invited Haley to blog on our site. And lucky for us all, Haley agreed.
BIO: With a Ph.D. in Sport and Exercise Psychology, M.S. in Sport Pedagogy, and numerous fitness and coaching certifications, Dr. Perlus is an expert at empowering athletes of all types and health enthusiasts achieve peak results. An adjunct professor at the University of Colorado, international speaker, former Alpine ski racer, appointed Industry Leader for IHRSA.org, and author, including soon-to-be-released “The One Minute Diet and Guidebook to Gold.”
Dr. Perlus helps people reach their highest standard of performance. For further information and a free chapter of one of her books, visit www.DrHaleyPerlus.com
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