It’s official: we’re all low-key obsessed with Eileen Gu right now. The Chinese-American athlete, model, and Stanford University major (where she studies quantum physics, no less – life truly isn’t fair) is the most decorated female freestyle skier in history, adding a gold and two silvers to her already history-making medal haul at this year’s Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
In the process, she’s become a global superstar, winning legions of fans across the world with her grace, brains and seemingly otherworldly ability on the slopes – not to mention, her quick-witted press conference responses, currently serving us daily doses of role-model inspo.
At the risk of fan-girling too hard, Gu is everything we wish we were – and everything we’d love young girls to channel, especially when it comes to mindset and mental resilience.
“Watching Eileen Gu throughout the Olympics, I found myself admiring her and also feeling genuinely hopeful for my daughter, knowing there are women like this for her to look up to,” agrees chartered psychologist Dr Louise Goddard-Crawley. “We’re living through a time where women’s achievements in sport are extraordinary, yet they are still sometimes subtly diminished. Gu cuts through that completely. She seems entirely comfortable in her authority.”
But how, exactly, does a 22-year-old maintain such grace and mental clarity under pressure?
The truth is – and this is something she freely acknowledges – she works hard every day to be the very best version of herself she can possibly be. Which is, in fact, good news for us all, as it proves that mental resilience isn’t an innate skill; it’s something we’re able to develop.
Don’t believe us? The science backs it up: check out this study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. And if scientific research floats your boat, you might also be interested in this study (published in the British Medical Journal of Mental Health), which reveals a link between mental resilience and a lowered risk of all-cause mortality.
But, back to Eileen Gu. Aside from fixating on her overall awesomeness, what can we learn from her approach to life – specifically, when it comes to improving our mental health and toughness? Keep scrolling to take a wander through her brain; you’re welcome.
Eileen Gu is the mental resilience role model we all need – X mental health tips and tricks she practices daily
What is mental resilience?
First up, though, let’s examine the idea of mental resilience as a subset of overall mental health. Much like physical resilience, it’s about how well you can cope and regroup when things don’t go according to plan – something that’s vital for all of us, especially competitors like Gu.
“Mental resilience is your psychological and emotional capacity to adapt in the face of stress, uncertainty, pressure, adversity, or situations you have no control over,” explains confidence expert Kamalyn Kaur.
They go on: “Resilience allows someone to experience hardship, disappointment, fear, or failure without collapsing into themselves, spiralling out of control, or defining themselves by it; importantly, it’s not about being unaffected by difficulty. Instead, it is about your ability to stay flexible, emotionally regulated, and able to bounce back when things don’t go to plan.”
Why is mental resilience important?
As touched on above, the benefits of mental resilience are manifold when it comes to improving overall mental health, but more than that, it enhances performance, too – whether this is on the slopes, in the workplace, or simply hanging out with your friends.
“In a culture (and world to some extent) that rewards constant performance, demands success, and defines people by achievement or accolades, mental resilience can protect against burnout, emotional fatigue, anxiety spirals, and performance-driven exhaustion,” shares Kaur. “Having mental resilience enables us to keep steady, strong, and focused – even when life throws a curveball.”
In a nutshell, it helps us to:
- Respond rather than react
- Maintain perspective under pressure
- Recover quickly from setbacks
- Protect our self-worth from being tied solely to achievement and performance.
7 mental resilience tools we can all learn from Eileen Gu
1. Cognitive reframing
By now, most of us have seen Gu’s incredible take-down of the journalist who questioned whether she saw her silver medals as ‘two golds lost’. For those who missed it, it was, quite simply, a masterclass in cognitive reframing – a technique that enables us to replace unhelpful thought patterns with more balanced and realistic perspectives.
“When challenged, Gu didn’t become defensive; instead, we witnessed a very live version of resilience,” says Dr Goddard-Crawley. “She calmly dismantled the premise of the question and reframed the conversation entirely. It was quick, clever and very satisfying to watch. In that moment, she delivered the kind of response many of us only think of later, replaying a conversation from earlier that day in the safety of the shower or before we fall asleep.”
2. Mental training
How many of us can say, as Gu does, that our brains are nice places to be? Chances are, not very many – but this is at the heart of good mental health. Gu is very open about how much time and care she puts into her thought processes, allowing her to respond (on the spot, might we add!) in a calm, considered way.
“Gu embodies the idea of mental training,” says Keren Blackmore, certified coach and founder of Leap of Thought. ” In every press conference we have now seen and watched over and over again (a million times!), she is consistently present, engaged, warm and curious. This combination is rare and the hallmark of developed self-leadership.
“In terms of how we can apply this to our lives, think about one unhelpful belief or thought about yourself that you could let go of, or work on to make your mind a better place to be?”
3. Embracing risk (but with planning)
“Resilience is not about reckless confidence, emotional indifference, or pretending not to care,” cautions Kaur. “It’s the ability to embrace risk with preparation. Eileen Gu trains extensively, but once in competition, she commits fully. The psychological undertone here is powerful: prepare thoroughly, train your mind and body, then release control over the outcome.
“In everyday life, this might mean doing the work for a presentation, the pitch, or the difficult conversation, then allowing the outcome to unfold without tying it to your self-worth or value as a person.”
4. Leaning in to neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity, in (very) simple terms, is the brain’s ability to rewire itself in response to thoughts and experiences.
“What is also interesting, and something Gu articulates very well, is how deliberately she thinks about her performance and resilience,” remarks Dr Goddard-Crawley. “She talks about neuroplasticity, the idea that the brain changes through challenge and repetition, and she treats mistakes as part of learning rather than failure. She has even suggested that her age may be one of her advantages, and there is real truth in that.
“Younger brains tend to be more adaptable and less fixed in their thinking. It’s a powerful message for young people to hear.”
5. Detaching self-worth from outcome
Gu’s innate confidence shines through all her interactions, leaving us, frankly, in awe. Part of this self-assurance is her focus on intrinsic self-worth as separate from her extrinsic achievements.
“Despite competing at an elite level, Eileen Gu has consistently spoken about skiing as something she loves, not just something she wins at – and that distinction matters,” notes Kaur. “When identity becomes entirely performance-based, every setback feels personal. A missed promotion doesn’t just disappoint; it confirms a fear of inadequacy. A business event that underperforms doesn’t just sting; it becomes proof you’re not cut out for something.
“Developing resilience requires a psychological separation. Thinking ‘This didn’t go the way I hoped,’ is very different from ‘This says something about who I am’.”
6. Prioritising self care
As an athlete, mental and physical self-care are paramount, and this goes right back to the foundational basics of nutrition and sleep – something Gu takes care to prioritise.
“Gu is very clear about the importance of self-care and sleep, often saying she aims for around ten hours a night,” shares Dr Goddard-Crawley. “Sleep is where learning settles, and emotional balance is restored. Protecting sleep as deliberately as training often shows up as clarity and composure under pressure.”
7. Choosing curiosity over judgement
We’ve talked about Gu’s openness and honesty, and this extends even to those interactions where others (mere mortals!) might feel on a back foot.
“Eileen Gu embodies self-trust, assurance and deep, non-performative, inner confidence not only in her words and trademark simple, clear articulation but also in her energy, presence and body language,” says Blackmore. “Consider how she responds in the seconds before speaking, when a reporter prefaces her question with ‘this isn’t supposed to be rude’, then goes on to ask if she thinks before she speaks.
“Rather than being defensive, or preparing for the worst, she leans in, demonstrates she’s open to hearing more through her facial expression and then goes on to thank the reporter for her question. Her automatic response, to stay open, curious, light-hearted, is one, I imagine, she has trained. It’s a choice she has been making for years, day after day. She chooses to validate herself, she chooses to be curious, she chooses to create an inner narrative that has helped her grow and achieve more in her 22 years than an average person could only dream of.”
Mic drop, Gu.
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Can we really learn mental resilience?
In a word: absolutely. Mental resilience isn’t an inherent trait; it’s a learned skill.
“Resilience isn’t a personality trait,” agrees Kaur. “It’s a skill set which can be built and strengthened. As a therapist, I help people build strong mental resilience by working on the following key areas:
1. Emotional regulation skills such as breath work, grounding, and an understanding of the nervous system awareness.
2. Identifying and challenging unhelpful cognitive patterns such as catastrophic or rigid thinking.
3. Practising self-compassion rather than being self-critical or self-judgemental.
4. Developing a network of supportive relationships for comfort, nurturing, and healing during times of setbacks.
5. Sharpening self-awareness to allow for both emotional and physical needs to be addressed during times of adversity, helping to get back on track quicker.