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I shared this thought with my 14yo daughter the other night. I let her know I was happy she out works and out trains a lot of her teammates, BUT…
I encouraged her to not get complacent with that, to aim higher.
After all, in competition, the only people it matters to “outdo” are your opponents!
Out working your teammates is great, but you’re not fighting against them in competition.
I’m happy to say, she understood exactly what I was taking about 🙂
The same is true for performance. It’s awesome if you’re the best on your team or in your league or even in your conference or state. However, even if you’re the best in your state, there are 49 others out there who claim that same title!
What separates you from THEM?
Even after you become the best of the best, can you stay there?
How many athletes or teams do you know have one great year or maybe a couple of great years, then disappear?
Not that a moment of greatness isn’t enough, but if you’re looking to reach your FULL potential, you must realize that the hard work never ends, that the better you become, the more focused and driven you just be. There never comes a point where you’re so good, you can stop working and get the same results or better. No matter how great you get, you only get out of it what you put in. That effort is always your choice.
There’s nothing wrong with reaching a point where you’re ready to back down, just as Michael Phelps did for the 2012 Olympics. He wanted more of a life outside of swimming. He backed down on his training. He understood this decision may affect is medal winnings in the Olympics. It did. He won a couple Silver Medals instead of all Golds. He was okay with that. He understood that you only get out what you put in, and that he wanted more in other areas of life. He made a conscious choice and made “deposits of success” in other areas and accepted the impact that made on his swimming.
The same is true for you. It’s okay if you reach a point where you feel the need to adjust your priorities in softball, or in life, just realize it affects your results. Only you can decide what you really want out of your softball experiences and your life, no one else. That choice is always yours as well.
