Laurie Hernandez Quotes

I think the biggest thing was that I was putting pressure on myself leading up to Beijing. Now I am learning how to take that pressure off and seeing this as an incredible opportunity, but not like, 'I absolutely have to medal.'

I just think you need to believe in yourself - be offensive, but still have some nervousness in your body before any important game.

I try not to feel pressure, because I feel like it kind of throws you off. I always try to focus on myself. But it does kind of creep into the back of my mind.

One of the main techniques I used was focusing on the goal and visualising myself competing in the race before the race started.

When I got to match point in the final I was afraid I'd be a little nervous, but I just said, You have to stay focused, just think about what you have to do.

I always say my biggest competitor is myself because, whenever I step out there on the mat, I'm competing against myself to prove that I can do this and that I am very well trained, prepared for it.

It's interesting: I never got stressed before wrestling matches. I always felt completely confident that I had done everything I could do, all my mental preparations when I sat down and envisioned the match, so I never felt stressed.

Growing up, I did quite a bit of reading on the mental side. My dad, who coached me, had us doing a lot of different types of mental work, like visualization. I read a couple of tennis books that talked about calming your nerves, belief, visualization, relaxing, breathing.

Every year is pressure. You need to put in on yourself to go out and perform.

The only way I can meet expectations of myself and what I think I am capable of is to make sure my game is in order and I am doing things that allow me to perform at my best, to make sure my training is good, to make sure I am focused on watching the ball and not worried about the external expectations.

Sometimes I watch past goals, but I don't watch them because I think that it'll help me to score in the next game.

I don't feel pressure going into games.

I always try and do my best and put out the best and find the best in me, as well. But I'm not thinking about it beforehand.

To be a champion, you have to learn to handle stress and pressure. But if you've prepared mentally and physically, you don't have to worry.

I cannot control what goes on in another lane and this is how I focus on the Games. There is no point in being nervous of other swimmers. It's just about focusing on yourself and what you need to do in order to perform at your best.

To play well you must feel tranquil and at peace. I have never been troubled by nerves in golf because I felt I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

One characteristic of winners is they always look upon themselves as a do it yourself project.

I'm supposed to relax and concentrate on the image of myself out there skating my race.

All personal achievement starts in the mind of the individual. Your personal achievement starts in your mind. The first step is to know exactly what your problem, goal or desire is.

So I try not to have any actual expectations for myself for any level of success or failure.

Even though there are a lot of bright tennis players out there, you still have to protect yourself and save all your mental and emotional energies for tennis.

I'm not a guy who needs to read motivation books.

I want to be a better person in every aspect. I really don't feel I've in anyway fulfilled my potential in every area of my life. But I'm optimistic.

I don't think about the press or the crowds or the other leaders of the race. The focus is only on myself. As soon as I see the targets, I tune them out.

I always find that 90% of the performance, for me, is about what comes from inside.