When I was losing 0-4 against my close friend in Fencing, I thought to myself, “Well this is over.” I went to school at 6:30 AM to practice Fencing and I was battling against my friend. We hadn’t fenced each other for the entire season until now. We said that it would prove who was better. So amid my 0-4 loss, I remembered my dad, who would love to see me win. But he wasn’t there. (Because he had to go back home to work.) So I changed what I was thinking and replaced "Well, this is over with I’ve got nothing to lose”. My opponent, smelling victory, charged me with everything he had. I quickly thought fast, extended my arm into his charge and retreated.

It worked.

I got my first point of the game. Now it was 1-4. I scored 3 more points using the same mindset. Not letting him get a single point, which would give him the victory. (In Fencing, you go up to 5 points.) Now it was 4-4. My opponent did not charge this time. But I charged. I locked his blade with mine and I quickly went around his blade and lunged. I won the game.

When riding back home, I thought about my victory. Just by changing my mindset, I had come back from a 4-point deficit. I wondered If I applied the same mindset to my outside-of-school Fencing class, it would prove my opponent did not let his guard down and didn’t get lucky points. I applied the same mindset to my Fencing class. I was going against an opponent who had been Fencing for almost twice as much as I have. Again, I was losing 0-4. Just like I did previously, I changed my mindset and won the game 5-4.

Just by changing my mindset, I had come back from all my losses. I was taught that to make a comeback, you don’t need luck. You need a change in mindset. You can rephrase this mindset by changing it to, “I’ve got nothing to lose” How can you get to this mindset? That is up to you. How I got to this mindset is that I imagined what was going to happen if I lost. I didn't have anything to lose. So, instead of saying Well this is over I said to myself, I’ve got nothing to lose… except my pride. Another strategy is to imagine what you will gain if you win. If I won, I would gain recognition, respect, and bragging rights. Or, you can say to yourself, “Well, I’m not going to win this game, but I’m going to make my opponent go through the gauntlet to win this one.”

I also wondered, what if I applied this same mindset to my everyday life? Would it help or would it not help? In my math test, I set my mind to the same, “I’ve got nothing to lose” mindset. I completed the test and when my scores got released, I got a 49/50. 98%. This mindset does not only apply to Fencing, it goes to all sports, Soccer, American Football, Baseball, etc. So, I hope this blog helps you overcome losses and math tests.

Bye!