I Want to Quit My Sport Because I'm Not Good at It
You've made that declaration, you've judged yourself and you've passed the verdict. Now you feel terrible and blue, waiting for the perfect time to just throw in the towel. Truth is, your problem isn't a peculiar one -many people have it. Not just athletes but people from other fields and professions. Many people take the easier paths but only a few take the more difficult ones.
You feel you are not good enough. You tend to blame yourself for every defeat your team encounters because you made some errors here and there. Although no one points accusing fingers at you for being the source of the failures, you go home with that bag of guilt behind you.
It gets even worse when the coach and the rest of the team heap the blames on you. This has an awful way of destroying your self-esteem and confidence. So you feel you are indeed worthless and not good at your sport, hence the veto decision to quit.
You don't have to quit. Every problem revolves around its solutions -meaning your singular problem has multiple solutions. You can lighten up now because the solutions are near. Actually, below.
1. Work Harder
You've had this several times that hard work leads to success and you've even worked hard. But here is telling you to “work harder”. Go the extra mile. Move right out of your comfort zone. You see, if your mind tells you that you aren't good enough, chances are it's true. That's why you feel horrible. The truth is taking its toll on you.
All these feelings; fear, low self-esteem, extreme anxiety, cold feet and the likes are all products of incompetence. Imagine you are going to sit for an exam and you are fully prepared for it. How are you going to feel walking into the exam hall? You feel confident and energetic, right? And this because you know what you've got up your sleeves.
Instead of quitting, put in more effort. Practice 10 times than usual. This means taking extra hours beyond your regular training sessions to train personally. Get videos of stars in your sport, watch them and practice what they do. The outcome of this extra effort you're taking will cause you to have a rethink on that decision up there.
2. Elevate Your Mindset
Your problem started from your mind but you were unconscious to it. One slight mistake and you began sowing seeds of incompetence and failure in your mind till it blossomed into the mature fruit of quitting your sports. Now the deed is done, all you can do is to reprogram your mindset. Get rid of all the negative thoughts you've sowed in your mind. Have you forgotten them? Let me remind you:
Are those lines familiar? Perhaps not the exact choice of words; yours might have been even more intense and debasing. Bottom-line is that you've said to those words to yourself and no matter what you do or how hard you try; you'll never be good because you've failed in your mind already. The prime solution is to declutter your mind off all the failure junk you've put in it. Then replace them with positive power words like:
This habit vitalizes your spirit and materializes the mentality. Instead of throwing in the towel, why don't you try elevating your mindset while working harder than everyone else and see how you can turn the odds in your favor.
Most winners and the best sportsmen you admire today first won in their hearts. What you see is only a physical manifestation of a sealed deal.
3. Model After the Best
Ask your favorite sports stars about their early days and they will tell you they looked up to someone bigger and better. They'll tell you they modeled someone who was a blazing star.
By looking up to an icon in your field, you are setting high standards for yourself. By having a role model, you motivate yourself and push your mind forward to achieving the best - just like the star you admire.
So, find that one radiantly successful personality in your sports field that you admire, get his/her picture and place in your room. Wake up every morning to it and you won't need anyone to motivate you to work harder, believe in yourself and elevate your mind.
Read their biographies and be strengthened by the fact that they were once failures and at one point, they thought of giving up like you. Watch their videos, watch how they perform, observe the determination in their faces when they step out.
If you do all of these without wavering, then you'll look back one day at the decision of quitting and laugh at yourself. I will like to end this here with a phrase you must have heard more times than you can remember. “DO NOT QUIT”.
Take the path less traveled and blaze your own path, even if it's the most difficult one. When times get tough, don't quit, continue with your goals and Fight ON!
You feel you are not good enough. You tend to blame yourself for every defeat your team encounters because you made some errors here and there. Although no one points accusing fingers at you for being the source of the failures, you go home with that bag of guilt behind you.
It gets even worse when the coach and the rest of the team heap the blames on you. This has an awful way of destroying your self-esteem and confidence. So you feel you are indeed worthless and not good at your sport, hence the veto decision to quit.
You don't have to quit. Every problem revolves around its solutions -meaning your singular problem has multiple solutions. You can lighten up now because the solutions are near. Actually, below.
1. Work Harder
You've had this several times that hard work leads to success and you've even worked hard. But here is telling you to “work harder”. Go the extra mile. Move right out of your comfort zone. You see, if your mind tells you that you aren't good enough, chances are it's true. That's why you feel horrible. The truth is taking its toll on you.
All these feelings; fear, low self-esteem, extreme anxiety, cold feet and the likes are all products of incompetence. Imagine you are going to sit for an exam and you are fully prepared for it. How are you going to feel walking into the exam hall? You feel confident and energetic, right? And this because you know what you've got up your sleeves.
Instead of quitting, put in more effort. Practice 10 times than usual. This means taking extra hours beyond your regular training sessions to train personally. Get videos of stars in your sport, watch them and practice what they do. The outcome of this extra effort you're taking will cause you to have a rethink on that decision up there.
2. Elevate Your Mindset
Your problem started from your mind but you were unconscious to it. One slight mistake and you began sowing seeds of incompetence and failure in your mind till it blossomed into the mature fruit of quitting your sports. Now the deed is done, all you can do is to reprogram your mindset. Get rid of all the negative thoughts you've sowed in your mind. Have you forgotten them? Let me remind you:
- I'm such a failure
- I'm really not good at this
- I'm going to fail again
- You see, I told you, I'm going to fail again
- This is not my thing
Are those lines familiar? Perhaps not the exact choice of words; yours might have been even more intense and debasing. Bottom-line is that you've said to those words to yourself and no matter what you do or how hard you try; you'll never be good because you've failed in your mind already. The prime solution is to declutter your mind off all the failure junk you've put in it. Then replace them with positive power words like:
- I can do this!
- I'm not a failure or I refuse to fail
- This is going to be good (before every game)
- I'm the best there is
- I'm good at my sport
This habit vitalizes your spirit and materializes the mentality. Instead of throwing in the towel, why don't you try elevating your mindset while working harder than everyone else and see how you can turn the odds in your favor.
Most winners and the best sportsmen you admire today first won in their hearts. What you see is only a physical manifestation of a sealed deal.
3. Model After the Best
Ask your favorite sports stars about their early days and they will tell you they looked up to someone bigger and better. They'll tell you they modeled someone who was a blazing star.
By looking up to an icon in your field, you are setting high standards for yourself. By having a role model, you motivate yourself and push your mind forward to achieving the best - just like the star you admire.
So, find that one radiantly successful personality in your sports field that you admire, get his/her picture and place in your room. Wake up every morning to it and you won't need anyone to motivate you to work harder, believe in yourself and elevate your mind.
Read their biographies and be strengthened by the fact that they were once failures and at one point, they thought of giving up like you. Watch their videos, watch how they perform, observe the determination in their faces when they step out.
If you do all of these without wavering, then you'll look back one day at the decision of quitting and laugh at yourself. I will like to end this here with a phrase you must have heard more times than you can remember. “DO NOT QUIT”.
Take the path less traveled and blaze your own path, even if it's the most difficult one. When times get tough, don't quit, continue with your goals and Fight ON!