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10 Things to Do When Things Go Wrong

Posted by on April 4, 2016 in athlete, coaching | 2 Comments

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Not every workout is a good workout.

Not every meet is a good meet.

And not every season is a good season.

That is the sad truth. Things are not always going to be good. And sometimes they are going to even been pretty awful.

You will argue with a teammate, coworker, manager or a parent.

You will be misunderstood by someone, misjudged or even judged unfairly.

You will have an illness or injury that prevents you from reaching your goals.   A coach you loved will leave your club or a kid who you gave your heart and soul to will switch gyms or retire from the sport.

Or sometimes you will do everything right, and still miss the mark. You will fall at the championship meet or you are the (or will watch your) athlete who scored well into the 37s who still does not make it to nationals.

So what can you do to keep going?

  1. Let the yucky feelings pass through you. Don’t try to stifle them. Go ahead and feel them, and then let them move on.
  2. Then shake it off. So that happened. Okay.  It was a moment.  An event.  A brief period of time.  It does not define your entire experience, and it most certainly does not define you.
  3. Don’t dwell in “why me?” Frankly, why not you? None of us gets through life without sadness, disappointments, failure or shame. Is that harsh? I don’t think so. It just is.  Accepting that bad things happen to good people isn’t a cop out.  It’s a point of maturity.
  4. Remind yourself you can handle this (and this too shall pass). You are resilient. You are gritty. You can handle your emotions. You do hard things all the time. Besides, this moment in time will end.
  5. Remember why you started. Think about why you began this journey in the first place. Because you love gymnastics, probably. Tap back into those feelings.
  6. Take control over what you can, and let the rest go. Worrying and complaining does nothing to move you forward.  Being accountable does.
  7. Surround yourself with positive things and people. When you are down, the last thing you need is Negative Nancy or Bossy Bill in your ear. Find people who build you up and hang out with them.
  8. Be nice to yourself. While you are at it, you be nice to you too. A bubble bath, a Friends marathon or even a long overdue mani-pedi might just be what is in order.  And tell that mean voice in your head to take a hike.
  9. Learn from your mistakes. When the emotions calm down, think about what this moment has taught you.
  10. Make a plan and get to work. This is the best thing you can do to move forward is to move.

As the Japanese proverb so wisely states, “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”

Be the eight.