Perfection. Perfection is something we strive for in our everyday lives. In our jobs, hobbies, sports, and everything else. We want to be perfect.
Unfortunately, when we push ourselves too hard for that perfect score, or a perfect flip turn it leads to stress, anxiety, and just a lack of self-confidence.
It is completely okay to push ourselves to the limit, and to find where exactly our limit is; but, the line between working your hardest and running yourself ragged is a thin, blurred one.
So, we need to find a balance, a happy medium. One where we can get to our goals, improve, and be happy with how we are improving, but without disliking and hurting ourselves along the way.
In swimming and any sport, overuse injuries are common. While some of them are just a discomfort, some can be career damaging and leave permanent damage. The injuries can start out just as they are, an injury. But when we don’t allow ourselves to rest or take a break, they get worse.
I’d like to think that our head is similar.
We can absolutely push ourselves, definitely have goals and work for them, but we need to let ourselves have a break. Not just an “I’ll not sprint this 50 so that I can go all out on the next.” kind of break, but an adequate one that allows you to take a breather.
There is no shame in pausing for a second.
It is so easy to get caught in the “No breaks mindset” or “breaks are for the weak” but this blog is not called Breaks are Overrated. Breaks are there for a reason, don’t ignore them.
If you don’t feel up to going to a swim practice, don’t go. Go to bed early or study for that test coming up.
If you have an injury, let your body heal. You can only get so far with one hand tied behind your back.
If you don’t believe in yourself, there is someone out there who does. Let them encourage you until you can encourage yourself.
Perfection is not something that is completely achievable to us. It isn’t a happy statement. We need to know that nothing will ever be one-hundred percent. But we can get as close as we can.
And one way of getting there is by letting yourself rest.