Writer, Shayne McGowan, is the founder of mentaledgeperformance.ca
Coping with losing can be tricky to navigate. Many athletes are not satisfied unless they win.
Unfortunately, several factors are outside of your control that contribute to winning. If you are only satisfied when you win, you will be on an emotional roller coaster throughout your athletic career.
There are two things that you can control (focus and effort) and those two aspects directly impact satisfaction. The more effort and focus you exert in training, practices and competition, the more satisfaction you will experience.
Ultimately, your opinion is the only one that matters. Being satisfied with your performance should not be measured in wins and losses, best times or beating a particular opponent. Ask yourself if you gave your best effort and stayed focused as well as you could?
If you answer yes to these questions and are satisfied with your effort and focus, then you will be able to live with the results and feel content. These two questions should also be asked after each training session. This will allow you to bounce back after a bad practice, get back on track quickly and add to your overall satisfaction with your season.
This article originally feature in TRAIN issue 88. You can get a free subscription here.
