Trying out for a team sport was tough for me. I’m a pleaser. I like to fit in. I don’t like to “rock the boat”. But if you want a seat on the boat you have to beat someone else out. Possibly a friend.
Maintaining that emotional balance is crucial. I learned a valuable lesson on this journey that almost cost me my bench, here it is:
Beating someone out of a seat on the boat doesn’t make me better than them, it means I had a better time trial.
And when I get beat it doesn’t mean they’re better than me. They may have been more disciplined in their training, got more coaching, had better nutrition.
I learned to look at defeat and success objectively, void of emotion, void of personal judgement. Then I chose to surround myself with those that challenged me to be better. That had me chasing them! I became the small fish in a big pond and relinquished my need to be the big fish in a small pond.
