Back The Team celebrates World mental health day
Today, on World Mental Health Day, we’re reminded of the vital role mental resilience plays not only in sports but in everyday life. At Back The Team, our programming this week with Olympian Tess Johnson has centered on mindset—an essential skill set for athletes and one with far-reaching impact beyond competition.
Overcoming Mental Blocks
Every athlete faces mental blocks: that moment when your body is ready, but your mind holds you back. Tess says this experience is deeply human—and one that athletes and non-athletes alike can relate to.
“It can be really crippling. Everyone can relate to this feeling where your mind sometimes holds you back. It could be fear, nerves, or being worried about what others are thinking.”
Naming Your Fear
Instead of ignoring those emotions, Tess leans into them.
“When I’m feeling that way—maybe anxious or scared—I like to be super aware of it. I name it. I say it out loud: ‘I’m super scared right now.’ And I use that as motivation. ‘I’m so scared right now and it’s going to be THAT much cooler when I do it anyway.’”
She believes that by embracing negative emotions, you prove to yourself that you’re stronger than you ever imagined.
Turning Nerves Into Fuel
As Tess prepares for this Olympic cycle, she’s embracing all the energy: the highs, the lows, and the butterflies. When she was younger, Tess assumed the athletes on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard National Team weren’t scared at all. Now, as one of them, she knows the truth: everyone gets scared.
The difference? Professionals learn to reframe those emotions and channel them into performance.
“If you can take your emotions and embrace them—you quickly become unstoppable.”
A Message for World Mental Health Day
On this World Mental Health Day, Tess’s words remind us that strength doesn’t come from avoiding fear or anxiety. It comes from learning how to face it, reframe it, and push through. Whether in sport or in life, that’s how we grow, how we achieve, and how we inspire others to do the same.
This week at Back The Team, we’re embracing this mindset right alongside Tess. We invite you to take one small step today—name a fear, lean into it, and see just how unstoppable you can be.
