When athletes like you are caught up in training, mental health isn’t always your main priority - progress is.
But rigorous practice is draining… and without setting aside time to focus on your mental health, you WILL burn out.
Think of mental health in the same way you would any other muscle or movement. You need to be consistent and attentive or you’ll lose your progress.
But that’s easier said than done.
I’ve found that one of the biggest obstacles for athlete mental health is too much focus on results and not enough focus on the incremental progress being made.
Oftentimes, athletes only measure success by what happened in the game, the tournament, or the match.
You won. You lost. You shot the best score. You made the biggest error.
The incremental progress you’re making along the way isn’t celebrated enough. A lot of times, it’s because it’s very difficult to track and visualize just how far you’ve come.
Get in the habit of documenting what you’re learning and practicing. Compare past to present and make sure that all of your coaching and training history is documented in CoachNow, along with thoughts and feelings you had while practicing.
If you’re ever feeling stuck or down, these are great to go back and reread or rewatch.
Seeing where you were even just a few months ago can be incredibly powerful.
Revisiting your training content can also help you regain some momentum and hopefully, as a result, maintain some level of confidence that you weren’t able to do before.
Keeping all of your content in one place is super simple when you use CoachNow as your very own, personalized training journal.
Upload your videos, images, reflections, and notes into CoachNow to keep everything in one place so you don’t have to dig for it in those moments when you need it most.
When you’re in the midst of training day in and day out, it’s not easy to comprehend just how far you’ve come. But with a personalized journal filled with every part of your training journey, you always have that context at your fingertips.
Furthermore, when you focus on your own progress, it rewrites the script away from external sources and instead draws attention to what YOU can do to make progress on your goals.
As an athlete, it can be all too easy to constantly compare yourself to your peers - are they faster than me? Stronger than me? Better than me?
When you let those doubts creep in and get too loud, your own performance will definitely be impacted.
So to avoid that, it’s essential to try to focus on yourself; your own development, your own training plan, your own goals, etc.
Like I mentioned above, CoachNow’s training journal is a solid resource to help you see this greater context for your development.
Let’s wrap this up..
Burnout happens to the best of us. You put in your all, every single day, and it takes a toll.
To make sure you’re doing (and feeling) your best, lean on your training journal as a resource (mentally, physically, and emotionally).
Even though it’s hard to see the progress you’re making, upload your content and jot down your thoughts and feelings everyday, and you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come.
Consistency is key. Trust me.
But rigorous practice is draining… and without setting aside time to focus on your mental health, you WILL burn out.
Think of mental health in the same way you would any other muscle or movement. You need to be consistent and attentive or you’ll lose your progress.
But that’s easier said than done.
I’ve found that one of the biggest obstacles for athlete mental health is too much focus on results and not enough focus on the incremental progress being made.
Oftentimes, athletes only measure success by what happened in the game, the tournament, or the match.
You won. You lost. You shot the best score. You made the biggest error.
The incremental progress you’re making along the way isn’t celebrated enough. A lot of times, it’s because it’s very difficult to track and visualize just how far you’ve come.
Get in the habit of documenting what you’re learning and practicing. Compare past to present and make sure that all of your coaching and training history is documented in CoachNow, along with thoughts and feelings you had while practicing.
If you’re ever feeling stuck or down, these are great to go back and reread or rewatch.
Seeing where you were even just a few months ago can be incredibly powerful.
Revisiting your training content can also help you regain some momentum and hopefully, as a result, maintain some level of confidence that you weren’t able to do before.
Keeping all of your content in one place is super simple when you use CoachNow as your very own, personalized training journal.
Upload your videos, images, reflections, and notes into CoachNow to keep everything in one place so you don’t have to dig for it in those moments when you need it most.
When you’re in the midst of training day in and day out, it’s not easy to comprehend just how far you’ve come. But with a personalized journal filled with every part of your training journey, you always have that context at your fingertips.
Furthermore, when you focus on your own progress, it rewrites the script away from external sources and instead draws attention to what YOU can do to make progress on your goals.
As an athlete, it can be all too easy to constantly compare yourself to your peers - are they faster than me? Stronger than me? Better than me?
When you let those doubts creep in and get too loud, your own performance will definitely be impacted.
So to avoid that, it’s essential to try to focus on yourself; your own development, your own training plan, your own goals, etc.
Like I mentioned above, CoachNow’s training journal is a solid resource to help you see this greater context for your development.
Let’s wrap this up..
Burnout happens to the best of us. You put in your all, every single day, and it takes a toll.
To make sure you’re doing (and feeling) your best, lean on your training journal as a resource (mentally, physically, and emotionally).
Even though it’s hard to see the progress you’re making, upload your content and jot down your thoughts and feelings everyday, and you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come.
Consistency is key. Trust me.