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The Mental Game

 

#BreakingFree2023

“Quiet the noise in your head, find your own lane, go at your own pace, and move forward with intent”

It’s no secret that I’ve struggled for quite some time with battling perfectionism and trying to live up to high expectations, set by myself and others. Though I have made great progress in several areas of my life, being a competitive athlete can often cause me an abundance of stress because I feel pressured to perform at the high standards set by my teamates and fellow competitors.

After participating in a few back to back fitness competitions during the fall period, I made the decision to take a ‘break’ and to try to find joy in my day to day training. I realised that, though I absolutely love competing and being pushed to new heights, the amount of stress I was putting on myself was not only becoming unhealthy, but it was also making me question whether I still enjoyed what I was doing.

After approximately 3 months of lowering the intensity of my workouts, following my training program a little more closely, but equally listening to my body more regularly and allowing for some flexibility to train alone and with friends, my passion began resurfacing. Day after day, I looked forward to going to the gym and I was truly enjoying the process of working out, which positively led to lots of progress, both physically and mentally.

That said, a few weeks ago, I briefly got side-tracked. I performed a particular workout (for the 2023 CrossFit Open) and I almost immediately felt unhappy, anxious and self-critical. I can admit that I let the negative voices in my head and around me take over. But, it didn’t take too long for me to put into practice several strategies I’ve been working on this last year; I took a step back, gave myself the opportunity to reflect and to remind myself to quiet the noise in my head, to stay in my own lane, to go at my own pace and to move forward with intent. Fortunately, I was able to bounce back quite quickly.

Over the last few weeks, I have done a few other challenging workouts (from the CrossFit Open) and I have even participated in a new type of fitness competition (The Primal Race). With lots of positive self-talk, I have been able to provide myself with just the right amount of challenge, while still having fun and not feeling overly stressed.


“Show up, do your best and let go of the rest.”

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