There will be days where you don’t feel like it. (Even more so for some of you, now that we have reset after nationals, and the big meets seem so far away)
Where the struggle is particularly struggley.
Where no matter how hard you swim, you can’t seem to move forward or go fast. That your swimming goals, no matter where they rank in the scheme of things, seem to recede further in the distance.
Yeah, those days.
Look, it’s normal (yes, you’re not a weirdo!) to experience doubt and fatigue from time to time.
The next time you are feeling down in the dumps, here are a few things I would like you to remember:
You aren’t the only one struggling.
Everybody else is struggling in their own way as well, no matter how well polished their exteriors are.
No matter how successful they’ve become, they too experienced the same lousiness that you are experiencing.
The struggle is real. And it is shared. Even if it isn’t always apparent.
Don’t for a second believe that you are the only one plagued with uncertainty and frustration.
Action is the fastest way out.
When you feel like giving up, what is the one thing you really want to do?
For most people, myself included… It’s nothing.
You want to wallow. You want to mope. You want to sit on the couch, fire up Netflix and distract yourself.
I have found time and time again that this always only extends the feelings of wanting to give up.
(And then I start to feel worse because I am not doing anything to get out of the rut)
The antidote, my coast swimming family, is action.
Maybe this means changing direction. Or plodding ahead despite your doubt.
Whatever the case, don’t fall into the mental trap of fantasizing or wishing for better luck—there is no one that will get you back on track faster than you will.
But action, of turning your brain off and just swimming, is a guaranteed way to lather up motivation (and optimism to ward off those pesky feelings of wanting to give up).
All it takes is one good practice to turn it all around.
Do you believe in streaks?
Notice that when you have one good workout, it makes the next one more likely to be another banger? Or that when you have one stinker of a workout, the likelihood of the next one being just as smelly drastically improves?
When your in the midst of a bad streak, lean back, take a few deep breaths, and forget about your goals, the distractions, the feelings of doubt...
And focus on throwing down a killer workout. Nothing else.
After all...
All it takes is one decent to good workout for things to turn themselves around.