I Don't Want to Go to Practice Because Everyone is Better Than Me
The thinking behind not wanting to go to practice because everyone else is better than you, is based on the fact that you feel inadequate. This feeling can come from negative thinking about yourself or negative feedback you have received from others. For example, all of your friends can jump up and touch the rim and you can’t, even friends shorter than you. Or the coach makes you sit on the bench and puts you in with 1 minute left in the game. These two examples may be the cause of your negative self-thinking and may continue to influence it. Based on these examples, you feel that you can’t jump as high as you should be able to and you feel insecure about your lack of “hops.” Also, being benched by your coach reinforces your insecurity and negative thoughts about yourself.
You can work hard and get better or do nothing and stay the same. This is easier said than done. In order to get better, you must develop a growth mindset. I say this because in order to get better you have to actually believe that you can get better. If you believe you can get better, then your mind will push your body to create those conditions that lead to you getting better as an athlete. This may look different for many people. For example, as a basketball player this may mean shoveling the snow off the court in the winter, playing basketball after sun down until you can’t see the ball or hoop anymore, etc.
Going back to the dilemma around not wanting to practice, let’s look at how we are influenced by thoughts. If you can understand how our thoughts shape who we are and what we become, then you will further understand why those thoughts need to be positive as often as possible.
Do you realize the significance of thinking that others are a better athlete than you? This means two things:
• You are not willing to work harder to match or exceed the level of athleticism shown by your teammates and/or opponents.
• You have a mindset that is fixed and you don’t have a plan for changing it.
Now that we have a foundation for understanding our thinking, let’s talk about mindset for a moment. Mindset is what we think about ourselves and our abilities; could be athletic, academic, or our physical appearance. According to Dweck (2006), our mindsets are either fixed or they are what is referred to as a growth mindset. Fixed means it is not changing, like a fixed interest rate. A growth mindset means you acknowledge where you are and that there are opportunities to continue to improve. A growth mindset incorporates the power of the word “yet.”
For example, let’s say your free throw percentage is 30%, while you have teammates who shoot 75% from the free throw line. Instead of thinking I’m not going to practice because other people are better than me, you should think “I am not shooting at 75% from the free throw line, yet.”
The word yet opens your mind up to the potential that you possess and what will achieve at some point in the future. Let’s read that last quote again without the word yet at the end of it:
“I am not shooting at 75% from the free throw line.”
Now, it reads as if you are stuck at not shooting at 75% and you have no thoughts about improving that. Essentially, you are satisfied with not shooting at 75%. It’s almost as if your bragging about not being good. When you get to this point, you don’t even have to say I don’t want to go to practice because your feelings will manifest in your actions or lack of actions.
Remember we are what we think (Allen, 1951). If you go to a game and you have been thinking we are going to lose our team is not good. You are going to take actions that match those thoughts. You might argue with your team on the court, talk back to your coach, call a timeout when you’re not supposed to, get a technical foul, etc. The potential for negative actions to manifest is heightened by your thoughts alone. Therefore, you must keep your negative thoughts in check and immediately reinforce them with positive thoughts. These positive thoughts will shape the outcome of your actions. The next time it is time to go to practice, before practice visualize yourself doing an excellent job at practice by being competitive and getting better than you were the practice before.
Confidence is everything. When you lack confidence, stop and know that you are mentally prepared to accomplish anything you put your mind to and Fight ON!
References
Allen, J. (1951). As a man thinketh. Mount Vernon, N.Y.: Peter Pauper Press
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
You can work hard and get better or do nothing and stay the same. This is easier said than done. In order to get better, you must develop a growth mindset. I say this because in order to get better you have to actually believe that you can get better. If you believe you can get better, then your mind will push your body to create those conditions that lead to you getting better as an athlete. This may look different for many people. For example, as a basketball player this may mean shoveling the snow off the court in the winter, playing basketball after sun down until you can’t see the ball or hoop anymore, etc.
Going back to the dilemma around not wanting to practice, let’s look at how we are influenced by thoughts. If you can understand how our thoughts shape who we are and what we become, then you will further understand why those thoughts need to be positive as often as possible.
Do you realize the significance of thinking that others are a better athlete than you? This means two things:
• You are not willing to work harder to match or exceed the level of athleticism shown by your teammates and/or opponents.
• You have a mindset that is fixed and you don’t have a plan for changing it.
Now that we have a foundation for understanding our thinking, let’s talk about mindset for a moment. Mindset is what we think about ourselves and our abilities; could be athletic, academic, or our physical appearance. According to Dweck (2006), our mindsets are either fixed or they are what is referred to as a growth mindset. Fixed means it is not changing, like a fixed interest rate. A growth mindset means you acknowledge where you are and that there are opportunities to continue to improve. A growth mindset incorporates the power of the word “yet.”
For example, let’s say your free throw percentage is 30%, while you have teammates who shoot 75% from the free throw line. Instead of thinking I’m not going to practice because other people are better than me, you should think “I am not shooting at 75% from the free throw line, yet.”
The word yet opens your mind up to the potential that you possess and what will achieve at some point in the future. Let’s read that last quote again without the word yet at the end of it:
“I am not shooting at 75% from the free throw line.”
Now, it reads as if you are stuck at not shooting at 75% and you have no thoughts about improving that. Essentially, you are satisfied with not shooting at 75%. It’s almost as if your bragging about not being good. When you get to this point, you don’t even have to say I don’t want to go to practice because your feelings will manifest in your actions or lack of actions.
Remember we are what we think (Allen, 1951). If you go to a game and you have been thinking we are going to lose our team is not good. You are going to take actions that match those thoughts. You might argue with your team on the court, talk back to your coach, call a timeout when you’re not supposed to, get a technical foul, etc. The potential for negative actions to manifest is heightened by your thoughts alone. Therefore, you must keep your negative thoughts in check and immediately reinforce them with positive thoughts. These positive thoughts will shape the outcome of your actions. The next time it is time to go to practice, before practice visualize yourself doing an excellent job at practice by being competitive and getting better than you were the practice before.
Confidence is everything. When you lack confidence, stop and know that you are mentally prepared to accomplish anything you put your mind to and Fight ON!
References
Allen, J. (1951). As a man thinketh. Mount Vernon, N.Y.: Peter Pauper Press
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.