{"id":18324,"date":"2020-12-15T13:41:14","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T19:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=18324"},"modified":"2020-12-15T13:41:14","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T19:41:14","slug":"water-polo-olympian-ashleigh-johnson-on-shifting-perspective-when-life-doesnt-go-as-planned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=18324","title":{"rendered":"Water polo Olympian Ashleigh Johnson on shifting perspective when life doesn’t go as planned"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Johnson recently chatted with Know Your Value about shifting perspective, mental toughness and how she\u2019s smashing the stereotypes of being a Black athlete in a predominantly white sport.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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Water polo player Ashleigh Johnson poses for a portrait at the 2016 Team USA Media Summit at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.<\/span>
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If anyone knows how to pivot and adapt during uncertain times, it\u2019s Ashleigh Johnson.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The gold-medal-winning water polo player said she was devastated when she heard the Tokyo Olympics were being postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But thanks to her training as an elite athlete, the 24-year-old goalkeeper is used to shifting and recalibrating at a moment\u2019s notice. And she\u2019s using those same techniques to get her through this difficult time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnson recently chatted with Know Your Value about shifting perspective, mental toughness and how she\u2019s smashing the stereotypes of being a Black athlete in a predominantly white sport.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Know Your Value: What was your initial reaction when the Olympics were officially postponed? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnson: \u201cWhen I heard the news that the Olympics were officially postponed, I felt a combination of shock and disbelief that day and for a few days after. The Olympic Games is the one event on our schedule that you plan everything around and that you never expect to move or change, so it took me a while to actually accept the postponement and adjust to the new reality of training another year towards our goal.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Know Your Value: How did you mentally shift perspective after the official postponement? What strategies and tactics have you used to adjust and move forward?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnson: \u201cShifting my perspective after the news of the postponement wasn\u2019t easy, but it was easier with the support of my teammates and our sports psychologist. As a team, we spend a good amount of time understanding and practicing mental flexibility and self-awareness, which are both useful in a high-intensity situation where you\u2019re competing for a spot on an Olympic Team circumstance, but also very necessary skills to have in the event of a global pandemic.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Know Your Value: What advice do you have for people based on your own adjustments while trying to weather COVID-19?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnson: \u201cLiving with so much uncertainty is difficult for me personally, as I\u2019m sure it is for many people, but what has helped me adjust to the new reality of COVID-19 is putting in effort towards understanding myself, giving myself permission to feel and process the big emotions, negative or positive, and making space to connect with my support system.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnson: \u201cBeing Black in a predominately white sport is an interesting experience. The most prominent thing that I can point to in my experience growing through the sport, especially once I was no longer playing alongside my brothers and sisters, is that it was very isolating at times. When I was younger, I got questions from other kids in the sport, parents, and even strangers asking questions like, \u201cCan Black people float?\u201d or \u201cBlack people don\u2019t swim, how come you know how?\u201d [I received] questions like these and other similar things that weren\u2019t as direct, but meant the same thing and implied that I didn\u2019t belong, and people like me didn\u2019t belong. That put a lot of pressure on me when I was younger to either act like race wasn\u2019t something that was part of my reality or absolutely crush the expectations that people had for me.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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