Jenkins strengthened her case to be selected with victory in the Gold Coast World Series event.
The 32-year-old will discover this week if she will be nominated as Britain's third female triathlete.
"I'm just being a bit easier on myself and see what happens and enjoy it," she said.
"The last four years have really beaten me up a lot and I've felt mentally battered with all the injuries and the highs and lows.
"London was hard but I'm pretty proud of it now because I got a great result under horrendous circumstances."
Jenkins finished fifth at London 2012, her second Olympics, having suffered an injury before the Games.
She has been hampered by injury in recent seasons, missing much of 2013 as well as the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a foot injury.
The 2008 and 2011 world champion secured her first World Series win since 2012 with victory in Australia on 9 April.
Jenkins' main rival for the final spot at Rio, 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Jodie Stimpson, finished 12th.
One of them will join Non Stanford and Vicky Holland in Britain's female triathlon team, with an announcement expected in the next few days.
"Before the Gold Coast race I wasn't thinking about Rio. I didn't believe it could happen," Jenkins added.
"After the race it's been a bit of a shock to incorporate Rio into my consciousness.
"I hadn't really considered it that much and now I've got to start thinking about it a bit more.
"I'm really driven to be selected."
Former double world triathlon champion Helen Jenkins is determined not to put too much pressure on herself as she targets a place at the Rio Olympics.