Disconnecting from the Outcome
"I can confidently say my biggest setback---tearing my ACL---turned out to be a launchpad to more growth and learning than I ever imagined."

Last February, I was wrapping up a successful high school basketball career, racking up over 1500 points and breaking my high school’s single game scoring record with a 49 point game. It was tough to accept that my competitive basketball career was winding down, but I was elated with my choice to commit to Northern to play volleyball.
During the first playoff game of my senior year, my right knee buckled awkwardly while trying to euro and draw a foul. I vividly remember the trainer comparing my injured knee to my other one and tensingly telling me I’ll need an MRI. I knew right then that my ACL was torn. Many thoughts rushed through my head at this moment, but the one that always prevailed was ‘this happened for a reason’.
I can confidently say my biggest setback—tearing my ACL—turned out to be a launchpad to more growth and learning than I ever imagined.
Through the course of my recovery, I discovered how to expand my identity beyond an athlete.
I feel inclined to share my personal takeaways of navigating a long term injury. I hope my experiences and words will inspire others who are in the process of recovering and finding their ‘why’.
First, I found that the only way to become resilient is to overcome adverse circumstances.
Working through this injury forced me to accept that in order to make consistent progress towards my goals, my actions couldn’t be influenced by my feelings at the time. I had to stay diligent with my rehabilitation plan even when I was frustrated or tired. This took my self-discipline to the next level which in turn, increased my self-confidence.
Second, I did my best to focus on what I could control.
Injuries are a major setback in sports. We can’t control whether or not they happen to us, and we can’t control our timeline to return to play. The best way to stay positive through this process is to focus on variables you can control. This includes having gratitude for how far you have come, even if you feel short of where you’d like to be.
Lastly, I found that process goals are much more important compared to outcome goals.
In order to make real progress towards whatever goal you wish to achieve, your focus must shift to committing yourself to the process rather than the outcome. I learned that setting goals that kept me accountable rather than measured my progress made the process more rewarding and helped me find more success. For example, instead of making my goal to get my weight room numbers back to what they were, I set a goal to be diligent with the weightlifting plan I was given. This mindset put my goal fully in my control and helped me make progress towards the outcome I desired without getting discouraged.
Not only did I have to explore what pushed me through the recovery process, but I had to learn how to separate my identity from my sport.
I had always heard popular athletes speak out on how much disconnecting their identity from their sport changed their life and their perspective on performance. It seemed impactful to them, but I had no clue what that truly meant or how to do it.
My achievements on the court and accomplishment I felt from reaching athletic goals used to be a foundational aspect of my self-esteem. It makes sense; goal attainment is a proven way to improve self-confidence. This mindset can be incredibly harmful to one’s confidence, as our performance cannot be perfect everyday.
When I shifted my focus to process goals rather than outcomes, my confidence was no longer influenced by how I performed. Now, my confidence stems from the trust I have built in myself by consistently doing the things I say I am going to do.
Another critical part of separating your identity from sport in ensuring you are in an environment that encourages healthy separation.
As I recovered from surgery and began physical therapy, I quickly learned that the right people treat you exactly the same, regardless of your physical capabilities. Whether I was relearning how to walk or breaking records on the court, my friends and family treated me exactly the same. They emphasized my strengths and aspects of my personality that had nothing to do with sports.
When I got to Northern in the fall, my new teammates and coaches followed suit. They helped me realize how much more there is to being a student-athlete beyond competing in your sport.
Now that I have fully recovered, I utilize the mental skills I learned during my recovery to help separate my self-esteem from my performance, and make decisions based on the type of person I want to be.
I have separated my identity from the outcomes that are out of my control, and shifted my focus to the process of achieving my goals.
My name is Lyvia Misegades and I'm a Psychology major at Northern. I am a Freshmen on the Volleyball team from Henning, Minnesota.