Pressure to Perform as an Athlete

Athletes have a strong work ethic. They are determined, motivated (for the most part- even if they do complain sometimes), driven. There is a lot of pressure to perform well. This meaning, you must be perfect or you get pulled. There’s pressure from coaches, teammates, yourself. This is different from doing your best. I think doing your best is all you can do, but some of us try to push it too far and that’s when injury happens and burnout occurs.

Please always do your best. Always push yourself to be better, but don’t do it to the point you hate yourself or the sport because of it or you experience something like adrenal fatigue because you aren’t giving your body the rest it needs.

I have a few solutions for you to help you make your decision, and to be ok with letting go.

Solutions:

• Know who you are. Do you know who you are? Or are you still trying to figure that out. Take a moment to think about all the things you enjoy doing. It may or may not include the sport you currently play and that’s ok. What lights you up? What brings you joy?
  • For me, it is going to the beach, being in the sunshine, playing beach vball, snowboarding, working out, helping athletes find their identity.
  • Enneagram books: Road Back to You, Enneagram Made Easy
  • Enneagram instagram accounts: @enneagram.life, @enneagramandcoffee
• Spend some time alone to think of what you really want. Spend time dreaming. Write out what you would want to do if money and time weren’t an issue. Don’t hold back. If you didn’t have to worry about anyone else. What dreams do you have?
  • I recently did an exercise from Rachel Hollis’ book “Girl, Stop Apologizing” - 10 years, 10 dreams, 1 goal. In 10 years, what do you want to be doing? Where do you want to live? Are you married? Have kids? How are you feeling? What traits do you have? Do you want to run a business? What does your house look like?
  • 10 dreams- no limits and be specific- do you want to be healthy, do you want to be CEO of a company?
  • 1 goal- what is one goal that will get you closer to your dreams?
• Go through The Comeback: Mindset Shift After Injury

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(Episode 28)