Skiing champion and international sporting heroine Eileen Gu was in Hong Kong today, and I was delighted to be able to catch some of her thoughts about attaining mindfulness amidst a high pressure and rapidly changing world during the Dragon Boat Festival.
When I asked Gu: “What is your advice to kids today on achieving mindfulness?”, her answer was truly inspiring. “Self-awareness and self-understanding,” she revealed, were her suggested tools for young people seeking to find mindfulness in a chaotic world.
The Olympic freestyle skier and model offered the advice and brief reflection to BDG at Stanley Main Beach on Friday. Gu was in Hong Kong to share her support for the Shangri-La Stanley International Dragon Boat Championships, the largest of several rowing competitions taking place across the city during the Dragon Boat Festival Holiday.
The highly competitive championships at Stanley have attracted over 180 teams this year.
Gu is an advocate of self-reflection and “metacognition,” which is the practice of thinking about her own thinking. Her idea of understanding herself empowers her to proactively shape the person and athlete that she wants to be, rather than being affected by anything external.
She also maintains a pleasant approach and amicable attitude to others and the outside world with her characteristic broad smile, while retaining a sharp and intense focus while competing: actively but calmly shaping her inner world to her will.
Gu has famously represented China in halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air events since the 2018–19 season. With three gold and three silver medals under her belt, Gu is the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic history.
Gu hopes that her approach to sports and life will be of inspiration to younger athletes who are seeking to excel in their sport, and more broadly, young people looking for direction and purpose in life.
It is especially important to set one’s mind on a path that feels individually meaningful, and find one’s “zone” while engaged in the work and activity of that path.