Real-life resilience - Simone Biles

Simone Biles is one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. She has won 11 medals in total with 7 of them gold! We may know her for her magnificence on the mat, but there is a whole other side of her story that is more impressive than the medal count. It’s a story of resilience that began back in 2015.

That year, Simone began experiencing what is called ‘the twisties’.

Let me try to explain what the twisties are.

Imagine we’re flying through the air like a gymnast, upside down, flipping, twisting, rotating at incredible speed. And then, in the middle of that movement, our brains suddenly forget where our body is. We don’t know which way is up, down, or sideways. We’re disoriented, mid-air, and milliseconds away from landing, hopefully on our feet!

That forgetfulness is the twisties. They’re not just nerves and choking under pressure. They’re a psychological phenomenon where our mind disconnects from our body when we’re supposed to be in a flow state. And they are scary as hell for a gymnast, because one wrong landing could mean broken bones, concussions, or worse.

Simone’s first encounter with the twisties happened quietly. Her coach later shared that after 2015, Simone suddenly stopped trusting herself mid-twist and had to pull back. She recovered and adapted to find a way through. And she went on to dominate the 2016 Olympics with 5 medals.

But years later in Tokyo, it all became too much.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021), Simone pulled out of the event mid-competition, in front of the world.

She attempted a routine that she’d performed flawlessly countless times before. But in mid-air, she got frighteningly lost. The twisties again. On that exercise, she barely landed on her feet. She walked off the mat and withdrew.

One of the best gymnasts in the world was saying “no”.

Despite the intensity of the moment, she made a conscious choice NOT to push through. To NOT risk her safety. To say NO to the voices that believed medals matter more than mental health.

The world didn’t know what to make of it. Some praised her and others criticized. Either way, she stood firm and chose her own wellbeing over everything else.

And there it was: real-life resilience in action. A magnificent demonstration of defying a system and a culture that suggests performance is the only thing that matters. It woke the world up a little.

The word ‘resilience’ gets the occasional bad wrap - associated with soldiering on at any cost, powering through when it hurts. But that’s not resilience at all. Her move took pause, immense self-awareness, and boundaries. Imagine the level of inner strength to listen to one’s body, mind, and intuition when the world is screaming to keep going.

That is resilience.

By the way, she didn’t quit gymnastics. She returned stronger and clearer. On her own terms. And this is where I mention that she won 3 more golds in Paris 2024!

Takeaways for us less flexible folks.

Most of us aren’t vaulting through the air, but many of us face our own twisties at times.

Those moments when our inner compass gets foggy. We feel overwhelmed and disoriented, like we’re going through the motions without actually being there. Maybe it’s the burnout creeping in, or the meetings we say yes to when we just need to catch our breath.

We keep pushing to perform, even when our internal signal is indicating that something’s off. But we must remember that it’s not just ok to say “no”. It’s actually necessary sometimes.

Here are three tools to build Simone-style resilience in our own lives:

1. Name our “twisties.” What are the moments when our body or mind feels disconnected? Maybe it’s that brain fog at 2pm. Or that meeting where our heart starts racing and we’re not sure why. Pause and notice by giving ourselves some space to think - a quick walk, a few quiet breaths, a body scan. Awareness is the first tool in the resilience toolkit.

2. Build our “no” muscle. Saying no feels uncomfortable, especially when we have high expectations of ourselves or the boss is demanding. But every time we say “no” to something misaligned, we have space to say “yes” to something that really matters. We’re protecting our foundation. In business, it is dangerous to say “no” without context, so it’s important to add in a frame of reference and offer solutions. One suggestion is to be clear with what is on the plate already, and then offer an alternative pathway.

3. Recover on purpose. Step back before things break down. Simone didn’t wait for an injury; she paused at the signal and spent time working through it. For us it could mean the vacation we’ve been delaying, or simply an afternoon unplugged. I find that running helps me unload annoyances, and meditation also works when I’m anxious. Either way, we should aim to make our recovery proactive and preventative.

In resilience training, I often use the term of bouncing forward…. but sometimes the most resilient act is to bounce out. Out of harm’s way and out of the pressure cooker. It allows us time to recalibrate and then we can crush it.

Simone’s greatest success was when she stepped aside to prioritize her mental health. That’s the kind of resilience I want to celebrate. Not the perfection, but the pause. It’s not weakness….it’s power.

Have a fantastic week ahead and let’s not forget to pause, protect, and reset.

Until next time friends, stay resilient.

Carre @ Resilient Minds

PS - if you’d like to measure your own resilience, I’ve created this Resilience Scorecard that spits out a score in just 3 minutes.