I Have Some Bad News for You

Not everything is within your control.

Perhaps least of all in athletics.

In my own experience plus the last few years of working with athletes, I’ve learned time and again that, while you can try your best, you can’t control:

• What other competitors do

• Judges & Refs

• The weather

• Injuries

• Luck

The list goes on … forever.

So naturally you’re going to have some outcomes that you don’t like. There are days the odds will not be in your favor.

Some days you will lose.

Then what?

It can go like this: I lost → I suck —> I let myself down —> I let everyone down —> I’m the worst —> I might as well give up.

But you can do better.

Here’s the thing I wish I could tell my high school self.

In fact, it equals next to nothing.

When I was in high school I actually walked away from swimming with my club the summer between my senior year of high school and my first year in college.

All because I had a terrible last meet of my senior club season.

I walked away from the team that had meant everything to me.

I robbed myself of redemption. And it means a whole hell of a lot if other athletes don’t follow in these footsteps.

When you feel yourself getting into a downward spiral as you replay moments that didn’t go your way again and again…

Are you allowed to have feelings about losing? Absolutely! It’s what you do with the emotion after that moment has passed that will make or break you.

Know that this is not the end of your book. It’s a beautifully painful and important part of your journey.

You get to keep writing.

BTW: Winning isn’t everything either! Next week we’ll talk about how that can make or break you too.

I did go on to have a successful collegiate swimming career! But I often wonder about the lessons learned and FUN I missed out on that summer.