6 life lessons we've Simone Biles to thank for

She's changed the game in more ways than one

I've never been much into sports (shocking), not even the Olympics. If it's on in the background, I'll get carried along with the excitement, watching in awe as these athletes execute their routines while appearing to defy the laws of physics. Beyond that, a lot of it goes over my head. Simone Biles, however, has transcended the Olympics. What she has single-handedly done for mental health is nothing short of staggering. For those living under a rock, let me bring you up to speed: she bowed out of the 2021 Olympics to take care of her mental health upon realising she was not in a good place. The pressure had become too much for her to bear. Her critics considered her a quitter, lazy, ungrateful for her position and too sensitive. Her supporters - and anyone with a heart - were impressed, if a little shocked, that she would make such a bold and courageous move. She returned three years later and, still carving out time for her necessary therapy sessions, she smashed it. More than her hard-earned gold and silver medals, her impact on perceptions of mental health and what success can look like will change the game forever. It's for this that my kids will know her name. 

Let's look at some of what she's taught us in no particular order. 

1. Nothing is worth driving yourself into the ground, no matter how sweet the reward or how high the stakes are. It doesn't get more tangible than a gold medal at the Olympics - it's an image with which even the least sporty among us can relate. Athletes and trainers (and everywhere beyond the realm of sports, too) have long believed you must push and push for gold and deal with the ramifications when you emerge victorious. Not Simone. Not if you want to stay the course and sustain yourself for the long term.

2. She has brought the third metric of success, as described by Ariana Huffington, right into the most competitive environment there is. Across all cultures and domains, success has been broadly defined by two metrics of success: power and money. Wellbeing is the third, and typically, it's a measure of success that's only ever valued after everything has come crashing down around you. (Ariana Huffington had to literally fall to the floor and shatter her cheekbone before realising she was probably not okay). Simone has shifted the order of priorities among athletes (and the rest of us) to make room for and have respect for our mental health. If it's as important a metric as winning is to success in competitive sports, it can be as important in business and work. 

3. She has taught us a lesson on instant gratification. In today's world, it's tough for many of us to think with the long term in mind. 'You're only as good as your last win', you'll have no doubt heard before. 'Seize the moment' is another. Social media and technology have kept our desires rooted in the here and now, wanting success at the click of a button and leaving us collectively intolerant of waiting for something. If the famous marshmallow test was carried out on most adults today, we'd surely gobble one immediately rather than wait patiently to enjoy two. To be within a hair's breadth of sweet success is something few would turn away from. Simone challenged expectations by stopping to consider the cost at which such success would come. And she made the right call. She played the long game while safeguarding something more important than her physical prowess: her mental strength. I'm not sure she ever used these exact words, but here's my takeaway: No matter how attractive, lucrative, or incredible an opportunity appears to be, we should always stop to ask ourselves, at what cost?' When discussing his potential to rise higher up in his company, I say this a lot to my husband. He'd earn heaps more money, but he'd be under immense pressure. I'd never see him, which seriously compromises our relationship and family. What good is it to us then? What good is gold to Simone if she's hospitalised for burnout? I can't imagine how hard it was to walk away from that opportunity in 2021, but she remained consistent, thinking of the bigger picture, and eventually, she reaped the rewards. 

4. Pressing pause on something or taking a sideways or even backwards step does not equate to failure. Again, this perspective requires you to zoom out from the moment and see the whole picture. When my anxiety was at its worst, I quit my job because I physically couldn't get myself up and out the door or function at a desk. When I was ready to step outside again, a job at that same level was hard to come by. My ego didn't like going from editor back to deputy editor, but considering what I'd been through and still recovering, it was a sideways step I actively sought out. I did not want to be front and centre as the face of the publication. I tried to put my head down and do my work behind the scenes. Anyone used to visualising success as working your way up each rung of the ladder would indeed deem this a failure. With time and without pressure (albeit on a much much much less significant scale than what Simone had to do), I built myself back up, went freelance and became an international bestselling author, which put me front and centre when I was good and ready for it. It didn't look like it then, but withdrawing from my path was necessary for the success I'd later enjoyed. 

5. You shouldn't drop all your efforts to care for yourself just because you feel fine now. She carved out the time to chat with her therapist on the morning of her performance. This is not a knee-jerk reaction to feeling wobbly but a well-laid plan to provide Simone with helpful anchors throughout this intense period. Whether it's therapy or medication or a specific ritual that you do to rebalance yourself, it's not something to discard at the first sign of doing better. It's a consistent, sustainable, slow series of habits that are more important when you're feeling well than when you're not. Don't treat these mental health interventions as crisis management when the building comes crashing down but as the scaffolding that keeps it from falling in the first place. 

6. This point might be more niche, but I'll include it anyway. I LOVE that Simone's not afraid to clap back at those who want to tear her down. She does it with humour and grace. Having some experience of others' opinions in a public-facing forum, you'd always be advised not to 'feed the trolls'. Not to give them any more oxygen or ammunition with which to pick you further apart. But on Simone's scale, the haters are going to hate regardless of whether she keeps quiet or calls them out, and frankly, in a world where it's become too easy for people to be nasty and negative, we're letting these people get away with it time and time again by looking the other way. In some ways, it's better for our mental health not to let that negativity in, but sometimes that's asking too much of our innate responses; sometimes, the healthy response IS to vocally defend yourself and say this is not okay. Recently, she shared an innocent photo of her celebrating with her husband during the Olympics. In it, he's wearing her gold medal. Certain people took great pleasure in commenting on this as though by putting the gold around his neck; her husband had no respect for her. He's literally wearing a t-shirt with her face on it in the photo. She responded by saying, 'yall are fucking miserable, please leave us alone', and I believe she was right to call them out. It's too easy to forget that people like Simone see and hear and are affected by these comments. If it makes one person realise that they're adding nothing but negativity to the world and reconsider it the next time, it'll have been worth it. She doesn't take any shit and it’s refreshing. 

On the whole, she's a powerful woman who owns her vulnerability and that to me is why she’s a winner. She sees beyond what's right in front of her and is the kind of role model my generation needed but never got. For my cohort, anyone struggling with their mental health in the public eye was seen as a write-off. We were of the 'fake it til you make it', 'best foot forward', 'never show your weakness' generation. We are the 'Lean In' graduates; frankly, we're not the better for it. 

Thank you, Simone, you’ve changed the game more than you’ll ever know.

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