If you have a dream in your sport…
If you really want to go as far as possible…
If the pursuit of excellence is truly important to you…
Then you need to surround yourself with athletes who are BETTER than you!
Teammates and opponents will help you get better than you are now, only if they push and outperform you. When someone is better than you, that individual, whether teammate, opponent or even sibling, is giving you an opportunity to improve yourself. You get NOTHING out of always being the best and winning! You grow and improve as an athlete ONLY by stepping out of your comfort zone, out of that “small pond” of yours and challenging yourself against bigger, better, stronger athletes.
All too often, athletes will get overly competitive with teammates, friends or others and be angry at, and mean to them should they come up short against them. They will feel jealous of the better player and act this jealousy out by being nasty to them. WRONG! and NOT COOL!
Better athletes will make YOU better. Be grateful for them! Embrace them! Embrace the challenge they present to you! Channel your jealousy constructively into working harder and being respectful and thankful for what this better athlete is “offering” you: A chance to get closer to your performance potential and your dreams!
