At the Milan Olympics, ice skater and gold medal winner, Alysa Liu, proved we don’t have to carry the heavy expectations others try to place on us. We can choose joy on our own terms instead.
The typical Olympic broadcast follows a strict script. The music swells with drama. Commentators emphasize the crushing weight of the moment, the years of agonizing sacrifice, and the unbearable pressure on the athletes. We watch the screen and expect to see stress etched into every competitor’s face. We treat suffering as the ultimate proof of dedication.
Then Alysa Liu stepped onto the ice in Milan.
The media desperately wanted the classic, grueling redemption arc. They wanted the tears and the drama of a comeback. Alysa simply declined to participate. She refused to let the sport, the commentators, or anyone else tell her how to feel.
When interviewers tried to hand her a narrative of crushing pressure, she set a firm boundary. She clarified that their anxiety belonged to them, not to her. She left them with their own heavy baggage and skated with pure joy, freedom, and love for the sport.
She performed her way.
The Performative Stress Trap
That level of boundary-setting offers a profound lesson for all of us, especially in our professional lives.
Every day, people try to hand us their stress. A chaotic workplace demands our panic. A frantic project timeline insists we sacrifice our well-being. We absorb this urgency as if it is mandatory. People tell us this is the job and there is no other way; it is a job after all, right? We learn to perform stress to prove we care about our jobs, our communities, and our goals. If you aren’t exhausted and worn out, you don’t care enough about anything.
Alysa proves this burden is optional. You can care deeply and perform at the highest level without letting anxiety consume you.
Bring the Olympic Ice to the Office
Figure skating is Alysa Liu’s actual job. She treats it with immense respect and masters her craft, but she refuses to let the job dictate her emotional state. We can apply this exact framework to our own careers to protect our energy and reclaim our joy.
- Reject the manufactured panic: Colleagues and clients often treat minor delays as catastrophes. You do not have to participate in their panic. You can calmly solve the problem without absorbing the frantic energy.
- Decouple exhaustion from value: Corporate culture often rewards burnout as a badge of honor. Challenge that standard. You can deliver exceptional results on a project while maintaining firm boundaries around your evenings and weekends.
- Treat joy as a performance enhancer: Alysa performs better because she skates free of anxiety. We execute our best ideas, strategies, and creative work when we feel relaxed and engaged, not when we feel terrified of failure.
We often believe that caring about our work requires us to suffer for it. We confuse anxiety with dedication.
This week, look closely at the emotional loads you carry at work. Are they yours, or did someone else hand them to you? You have the power to reject the default setting of suffering. You can choose to execute your work, live your life, and navigate your challenges with relaxation and fun.
You get to decide how you experience your own career. We are all a work in progress, and there is a freedom in knowing, living, and working with that truth. Your freedom and joy can and will inspire others. Alysa proved that to all of us. Let your own light shine, and go out there and be a light for others.
Christa Avampato 