Pro Athlete Take: What It Takes To Build Mental Toughness

Sophia Foresta is a BMX World Champion and has joined us twice as a speaker in our ZGiRLS confidence-building programs. She built her athletic career on flying through the sky on a bike and racing with fearless speed––but mastering these physical skills was half the battle. She shares that mastering her mental skills was the key to finding her success.

We interviewed Sophia about her experience with fear, failure, and mental toughness. She tells us what experiences she's had that has held her back mentally and her tips on overcoming moments of self-doubt.

ZGiRLS: How would you define mental toughness?

Sophia: When I was younger, I always thought being mentally tough meant that nothing was difficult for you. As I got older I realized that is not even close to true because we’re all human and we all have our own struggles.

Mental toughness for me became more defined as being able to make a choice to effectively work through my feelings in order to get to the other side, as opposed to avoiding the issues I’m facing. Challenging times will happen for everyone, but allowing yourself to slow down and get through it, that is what determines your mental toughness.

The hardest part of experiencing struggles is coming back to face it again the next time. When stuff goes wrong, trying to do it again can be even scarier than trying it the first time. 

ZGiRLS: Yes! Resilience is a key factor in building mental toughness. These are the moments when you have to find the courage within yourself to stand back up when you fall and keep trying.

Sophia: Right, and we all have a different relationship with mental toughness. I don’t believe that you build mental toughness and then all of a sudden, you’re mentally tough forever. It doesn’t work like that. It is an ever-changing process that requires you to apply those mental skills differently through each situation. 

For me, mental toughness has kind of been a sore subject. I had always thought that if I wasn’t always mentally tough then I was failing. I know now that that’s not true. Just because you’re not mentally tough all the time, doesn’t mean you’re not mentally tough.

Mental toughness isn’t a mountain that you can reach the top of. It’s an up and down journey.

ZGiRLS: Yes, that’s exactly it. We’re not going to be 100% strong, all the time, every day of our lives. But, we have these mental tools that we can use to help us through difficult times.

Sophia: And I don’t actually think we should be mentally tough all the time. Putting up a tough exterior can close ourselves off from feeling our emotions. And it’s important to recognize when you feel low in order to know how to best help yourself.

ZGiRLS: Wow, good point. That makes me think there’s a difference between mental toughness and mental awareness. Mental awareness is the tool used to observe how we are thinking, feeling, and reacting. Do you have any thoughts about how we can utilize mental awareness when we’ve feeling stuck in a difficult time?

Sophia: When I’m mentally aware, I can step back and separate the facts from my feelings for a moment. I can recognize that both my feelings and the facts of the situation are valid, and then find a positive way to respond. This is where the skill of mental toughness comes in. You can say to yourself, “Now that I have evaluated what’s going on and how I’m feeling, what can I do? How can I handle this? How can I get through this?”

Mental awareness is necessary in moments of panic, stress, and self-doubt. If you get stuck in that negative thought loop, then you can’t really get through it. It allows you to ground yourself, build up resilience, and find the mental strength inside of you to move forward. It’s kind of like a two-step process: start with your mental awareness, then pick yourself back up with your mental toughness.

ZGiRLS: Have you ever been in a situation where you experienced failure and it made you feel fearful of trying it again?

Sophia: The biggest mental block of my whole life came from a failure I experienced when I was 15. There’s a jump at our local track, it’s called a triple where you jump your bike over three humps. I went for the jump one day and I landed 50/50, meaning I landed on my front wheel but my back wheel didn’t land. It sent me over my handlebars, I fell on my shoulder, and I broke my collarbone. Through the whole rest of my career, I never tried that jump again.

Even when I became a more skilled athlete over the years, I still never tried that jump again. It was a lesson of experiencing fear of failure. I was very mentally aware of my fears, but I never could summon my mental toughness to overcome that fear. 

ZGiRLS: Wow, and even as a national champion and reaching so much success in your sport, you still experienced these fears. Mental blocks can truly affect everyone.

Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your 15-year-old self in that moment of experiencing fear of failure?

Sophia: Trust in yourself. You have done WAY harder things. Just because you failed in that moment, doesn’t mean you will fail every time. You know more now than you did before. Trust in your abilities.

ZGiRLS: Why do you believe it is important for teen girls to learn mental skills?

Sophia: I could go on about this all day! I think it’s super important, specifically for teen girls, because you’re at a point in your life where things are changing more rapidly than ever. As you get older and you deal with challenges, you have a foundation of mental skills to get you through.

For adults, myself included, you can see gaps in where mental skills weren't ever learned: problem solving in the workplace, dealing with problems in life, etc. You need those skills to find success in your future, learn to persevere, and have what it takes to reach your goals. The younger you learn about regulating your emotions, the easier it becomes to deal with your mental challenges.

ZGiRLS: You are absolutely right. It’s a life-long journey. If we can start while girls are developing a sense of who they are, their identity, and their own self-worth, imagine what you can do as you become an adult and gain more skills and awareness.

So what is your one piece of advice to teen girls for how to build their own mental toughness?

Sophia: Trust yourself. Everything you need you already have. All of the tools you need, you already possess them. You just need to make sure you use them.

We always think that being prepared in sports has to do with your body, but a lot of that preparation starts in your mind. You have to practice putting yourself in uncomfortable situations to experience what it feels like to panic and feel scared. If you panic during practice, you’re going to know how to manage those feelings when it comes to race day. You’re able to remind yourself that you’ve done this before, you got this. You have to always trust yourself.