When You Want to Give up

When you’re having a hard day and nothing seems to be going your way, you’re bound to want to throw in the towel. All athletes feel this way at one point or another. You are very excited for the new season filled with a bunch of new goals and excitement, but then everything changes. The hours you spend practicing begin to add up, you are missing out on family gatherings, you are tired, etc. Everything seems to add up and you’re left feeling at a loss and overwhelmed. But before you give up everything you’ve worked so hard for, try this:

Take a break. Give yourself a day or two off, or even a weekend. Do not even think of swimming or the pool. This will allow you to remove yourself, giving you a better idea of the big picture. Being run down is not fun, and you are probably not performing optimally anyway. After a break you will be coming back refueled and recharged! Watch out competition!

Don’t beat yourself up. As an athlete, you are expected to train as best as possible – all the time. It’s nice to say, but is much harder in retrospect. You may have a test coming up, papers to write, your friend is upset with you, etc. Life happens. With all these things happening, it can be hard to focus and train your best. If you have a bad practice, don’t beat yourself up. Move on. One practice is not going to make or break you. Realize you could have performed better, and use that as fuel for your next practice!

Keep Pushing. Some days are just harder than the rest. Nothing seems to be going your way, but you have to keep pushing. It’s not always going to be rainbows and butterflies. Press forward and persevere and your hard work will pay off – tenfold!