How I almost didn’t become the UNOFFICIAL World Skating Limbo Champion

How I Almost Didn’t Become the UNOFFICIAL World Skating Limbo Champion

Growing up, my mom owned a skating rink, and unsurprisingly, I was the best skater there (My brother Scotty will say he was, but know better). One memorable day, a girl about my age entered the rink. Her name was Tyisha and She had these amazing holographic skates and brought a second pair of skates, that I thought was a bit weird. She was a pretty good skater too. However, she was not very friendly after she saw me skate and we could both feel the competitive tension.

A little while later, I heard them announce that limbo was coming up. I was excited to impress her and show off just a little. I noticed she went to change skates for the limo, she went from in-lines to quads (four-wheel skates) We both got in line for the contest. It started with 30 kids and quickly narrowed down to just me and her. I am on the second bar to the bottom and I hit the bar and was out. She did the lowest bar and won and In the end, I lost. I was devastated, embarrassed and humiliated. All of my skating rink friends saw me lose and it crushed me. I was so angry, but my mom told me to keep trying and practice and It would be ok.  I knew it wasn’t, I told my mom that I couldn’t beat her. I told myself I CANT beat her and didn’t feel like I could. I wanted to quit.

Later that night, I learned she had just won the World Skating Limbo Contest that same day. Despite this, the sting of defeat lingered. It made me sink even further into believing that I couldn’t beat her. I cried myself to sleep.

The next morning my mom came to check on me and I told her I was still sad. I was upset because I love skating and I didnt want to quit but I CANT beat her and felt defeated. So she told me a few things. First, I pouted about it yesterday, anything more than a day is feeling sorry for yourself and we do feel sorry for ourselves, we find solutions and make changes. Second, “Okay so I didn’t beat her but Why didn’t you beat her? Even though you will probably never see her again, if you did, HOW can you beat her this time?”

How?

Then in a moment, everything changed. Instead of wallowing in sorrow, and anger the determination fueled me. I asked myself, "HOW can I beat her?" This simple change in wording unlocked a world of possibilities. I started to replay that day over and over. Her form was different than mine, she switched skates to quads, I used in-lines, and she held her feet, while I had my arms in front of me. Then I practiced relentlessly and I was able to make it under the last bar on the limbo. While I knew I would never see her again, the fact that I was able to make the bar that she won under was good enough for me.

Then one Saturday night, almost a year later, she returned, after having won first place in the World Skating Limbo championship again. My heart was racing. This is a moment I did not know I was waiting for. She saw me and smugly nodded her head at me. Then I heard it. “Limbo starting in 5 minutes.” I hurried to change into my quads with a humble attitude this time around. I moved silently with my heart pounding out of my chest. Everyone lined up and the intense moment of truth arrived once more; we both stood challenging the lowest limbo bar. She went first and made it. My turn came. Heart pounding, sweat dripping, I made it under the bar. Now it was a tie. We both completed the final bar. So they held the stick underneath the final bar. Again, she went first and hit the stick. As if there was not enough pressure, she stood dead center in front of me behind the limbo bar starting right at me with this smug look.

I started to skate, got closer, went into a split, kept my arms in front for balance, turned my head and closed my eyes… I sailed right through it not touching the bar! Just like that, I won. I was UNOFFICIALLY the WORLD SKATING LIMBO CHAMPION (in my mind for the next year anyway, that makes sense right? If I beat her the title is mine!)

By changing the word 'can't' to 'how,' I transformed my defeat into triumph. This paved the way for so many future obstacles to be overcome. When something gets too hard or I feel like I’ve hit a wall, I always refer back to “How can I” instead of “I can't” I noticed that when I said I couldn’t or can't, I was done thinking about it. I closed a door and there was no opportunity for work or change. But when I say “How can I” it opens a door with all of the possibilities. You are giving yourself a chance to be creative and problem-solve.

Flipping this one thought process can become your superpower if you let it.  

**Takeaways for Entrepreneurs:**

1. **Mindset Shift:** Replace 'can't' with 'how' to open doors to opportunities and solutions.

2. **Resilience:** Embrace setbacks as stepping stones towards growth and success.

3. **Possibility Focus:** A positive mindset unleashes countless opportunities.

This single word—HOW—made all the difference for me. It has the power to change your life too.

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