Five Common Phrases Competitors Hear
I heard "trust the process" for years before I understood what it meant. Coaches said it, other competitors said it, I'd read it in every interview with someone I admired. And every time, I nodded along like I got it. I didn't.
At that point in my competition, I was completely outcome focused. I was thinking about the time, the payoff, the placing, before I'd even backed into the box, and because I had no idea what "the process" actually referred to, I felt like I had to think about every single detail and control every part of the run myself. It was exhausting.
That changed once I actually discovered what a process was — a routine, a set of steps I could build, trust, and repeat instead of white-knuckling my way through every run. It was one of the most freeing realizations of my competitive life. I didn't have to control everything anymore. I just had to trust the thing I'd already built.
That experience is what sparked this week's podcast theme: five phrases we hear constantly in sports and in life, phrases so common they've started to lose their weight. I want to walk through what each one is actually asking of us, because I think most of us, myself included, have said or heard these words a thousand times without stopping to unpack them.
"You've got this" isn't blind optimism. It's a statement rooted in evidence — the practice hours, the reps, the times we showed up when nobody was watching. When we say it and actually mean it, we're pointing back at proof we've already stacked up for ourselves.
"Trust the process" is really asking us to trust three specific things. Our past work, yes, but also our routine — the handful of steps we repeat every single time regardless of pressure — and our controllables, the prep, the focus, the effort we bring, since we can't control the draw or the ground or anyone else's run.
"Keep grinding" isn't about grinding harder. It's about grinding again, showing up one more day even when the last ten didn't seem to add up to much. Research on habit formation suggests it takes an average of sixty-six days for a new behavior to become automatic. That's sixty-six days of unglamorous repetition before it starts to feel like who we are instead of something we're forcing. None of that time is wasted — it's compounding whether we can see it yet or not.
And then there's ***go get the next one*** Most of us have heard some version of "well, there's always next time" after a rough run, and it usually lands like a consolation prize, like someone letting us down easy. I heard it that way for years. But what if we heard it as a challenge instead? There is always a next one: another run, another steer, another shot at it. And that's not a pat on the back for the last one. It's an invitation to the next one. If you've been following along with our Next Play Mentality episodes, this is that same idea in four words. The last run is done. The next one is waiting. Go get it.
And "cowgirl up," the phrase this whole podcast is named after, ties it together. It means facing what scares us — the runs and moments we'd rather avoid — and stepping into them anyway. It means carrying everything above — the preparation, the trust, the grind, the repaired belief — and choosing to show up despite the fear.
Here's what I hope for you. Next time you hear one of these five phrases, whether from a coach, a friend, or the voice in your own head, I want it to actually land instead of sliding past you the way "trust the process" did for me for far too long.
If you want to go deeper on any of these, this week's Cowgirl Up podcast episodes unpack each phrase individually, about three to four minutes each. Find it wherever you listen to your podcasts.
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About the Author
Laurie Blickenstaff is a Certified Mental Performance Coach and founder of Mental Game 101, where she helps competitors in barrel racing, team roping, and cowboy mounted shooting build the mental skills to perform consistently under pressure. She's a competitive team roper with a World Series of Team Roping win, and hosts the daily mindset podcast Cowgirl Up.
