Snow snakes is a concept I learned from one of the athlete’s I work with on the US Ski team. I believe it has implications in other areas of our life as well. A snow snake is a small patche of snow that looks normal to the eye but is softer or just different than the surrounding snow. When a skier runs into it it can throw them off balance. This is critical as every split second makes a difference in the world of professional skiing. If a skier is holding on too tight, meaning if a skier is mental too intense or is over-thinking (worrying), they will not be able to adapt to the momentary lose of control and may even panic often resulting in over compensating and the loss of valuable time or even crashing. However, if an athlete is in the correct frame of mind—meaning if an athlete has worked to develop a Fearless Mind they are more likely to be free to the moment and naturally adjust to the uncertainty and temporary loss of control. Resulting in moraculaous saves that are often the differences between first and last place.

Going into the third last Nascar race of the year, Jimmie had a 184 point lead. Moving towards an unprecedented 4th straight title. On the third lap he is taken out by a driver who was a non-factor in the championship. Jimmie was basically blindsided. After his crew got him back out on the track after an hour, Jimmie did everything he could to preserve as many points as possible. At the end of the day he lost 111 points of his 184 point lead. Now only ahead by 73 points the media interviewed him after the race. Of course the reporter starts with, “so Jimmie you must be frustrated with losing that many points,” a typical media response to always focus on what is wrong. Jimmie responded with, “well we are still up by 73 points—yes we hate giving up all those points, but we are still in a good place.” This response is what separates the good from the great performers. Jimmie’s focus on the reality of the present is not normal, nor is it natural. It takes a lot of work to train the mind to stay focused on reality—on keeping it real. The majority of us what have been overwhelmed with the negative consequences of what went wrong. Following Jimmie’s statement he continues to talk about how he hates giving up all those points but then brings his attention back to the positives of how his crew did a great job to get the car back out on the track, how they still have two races left and they are both on tracks they like and that he felt like if they stay focused he was confident they could perform well there. Again, Jimmie has created a powerful mental tool through the years that always stays attuned to what he needs to do, what he can do, what he is going to do. No wonder this guy is the first to win four nascar titles.