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It is Not All or
Nothing
Shaun R. Goodsell MA
Senior Performance Advisor
If you spend any time at all listening to people talk about their
lives you will notice very quickly that not too many people are at
peace with their lives. It is also true that talking to young
athletes reveals that not many of them are satisfied with their
performance. I think there is a correlation here worth exploring.
Why is it that peace and contentment leading to satisfaction and
fulfillment is so hard to acquire? I think the answer to this
question has many levels of explanation. In this article I do not
want to explore meaning and purpose but, I would like to talk at a
very practical and basic level. I think many of us set ourselves up
for stress, frustration, disappointment, and failure because we want
it ALL or we think we got
NOTHING! In the athletic sense we
go into competition expecting unrealistic success, impact, and
results only to find that the other competitors have similar goals
and ambitions resulting in most walking away believing they failed
or played poorly because they didn't achieve
ALL that they could or should have. The end result is
a sense of failure and feeling frustration and disappointment.
In many cases this is completely avoidable by exchanging an
ALL or
NOTHING mindset and expectations for realistic
expectations that can lead to a greater satisfaction and peace about
your contribution and performance. Here are some examples of
realistic expectations:
1. I will try to stop 75 percent of the shots instead of 100 percent
2. I will seek to make one out of 2 baskets.
3. I will workout 4 days a week instead of 7
4. I will try to play my hardest 80 percent of the time.
If you experience very little fun or sense of accomplishment, start
by looking at how realistic your expectations are. How do they
compare to the realistic expectations above? Creating expectations
that eliminate the words always and never is a good first step to
helping yourself avoid unnecessary inner turbulence that steals from
the opportunity to experience the joy of participation and
contribution to a team or individual sport.
If you would like more information on this topic or to discuss
setting realistic goals, please contact us at
Dawn@MentalEdgeNow.com
or 763 439 5246 to set up your free
telephone consultation.
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