Nothing is sweeter than victory. And Molly Picklum has been picking up accolades like they are candy at a store. The 20-year-old Australian surfer stunned the world by winning the women’s event at the Pipe Masters in December 2022. And recently, she has done it again by winning her maiden World Surf League title at the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach in Hawaii.

Being this consistent is not child’s play. The road to success is only accessible by a lot of dedication and hard work. What did it actually take Molly Picklum to become one of the best in surfing right now?

The mantra of success for Molly Picklum

The toil behind Picklum’s achievement is visible to everyone, even her friends. “My friends on tour, they trip out… how much I think and how much I’ve got going on. Like, I’m pretty much in my head 24 hours a day. I don’t know how to fully explain it.” But what really drove her to be the best of the best?

In an interview with Red Bull Surfing, Picklum revealed, “I think it was honestly just being super curious of like, why can’t I be as good as… as good as anything, you know. Why can’t I just be crazy good at something? So, I guess my whole objective of this whole surf thing is: okay, I’m good enough at it. I want to chase it and see how good I can actually get.” But being crazy good at surfing is one thing, and then being good enough to be a part of the World Tour is a whole another league.

Read more: Devoid of Any Feelings, Rookie Surfer Having a Super Year Stumbled After Failing Championship Tour

But for Picklum, it came innately. According to her, “I feel like it happens subconsciously. Like, I never had a moment where I sat down and I was like, all right Molly, we’re gonna go make tour.” She might be natural, however, the odds that she has surmounted are still daunting. So how was a rookie like her able to manage the stress of it all?

Picklum’s “it is what it is” approach

It seems like compartmentalizing worked as a great tool for Molly Picklum. The manner in which she achieved her dreams is genius. Instead of thinking of she had to scale a mountain, Picklum took baby steps toward her goal. She describes it like this, “It was just like chipping away at it happily, instead of just this one big goal, and like you don’t know where to go and you don’t know how to approach it…” Instead of worrying about it, Picklum just decided to show up every day, full of steely intention to conquer the odds.

One other factor that Molly Picklum attributes to her success is the undying support of her coach, Glenn Hall. She said, “Glenn would always tell me like, you’ve definitely got the ability to make it and you will make it.” Picklum just chose to believe in her coach’s words and, more importantly, she chose to believe in herself. It is this belief that gave her the strength to accomplish all this at a young age.

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What, according to you, is the secret to stupefying success?