Written by SoCal's own Audrey Green, the following is an excerpt from Positive Subtraction.
Find more at: https://positivesubtraction.wordpress.com/
Ahhh, tournament season is upon us.
After weeks of dedicated training, we now battle against teams outside the practice arena.
If practice instills focus and discipline, then competition breeds bravery and resiliency.
This combination of practice and competition, makes sports freakin’ awesome!! (Where else are you exposed to this before being thrusted into the big scary world?)
After hours of focused time, sweat and effort—you finally go out and show everyone…
Your coach.
Your teammates.
Your friends.
Your family.
Yourself!!
What your team has been working on. And what you’re about.
This can make the competition element extremely rewarding.
However, if you have perfectionistic tendencies (as is my usual disposition)—it can cause a lot of self-induced pressure!!
But it doesn’t have to. (Phew.)
But what if I mess up?!
What if I totally biff the ball?!?
What if I lose my team a point?!?!—Game point?!?!
Well, the advise lays in the old volleyball coach adage…
“Volleyball is a game of errors.”
Usually, the context is the team that makes the least errors wins. Which is mostly true. However, there’s another lesson:
Volleyball (like life) is full of unavoidable errors.
Meaning: if you’re on the court long enough—you’re gonna make a mistake.
You can prepare the best you can by practicing, but you won’t prevent them all.
[Even the World Grand Prix “Most Valuable Player” Destinee Hooker totally biffs a serve.]
So the number one thing you can do to relieve that perfectionistic pressure is…
Accept…No, EMBRACE that errors will happen.
Once you do this, you don’t need to pat your chest while telling your teammates “m’a bad”, or say your sorry when you shank a pass.
You are not bad.
And if you gave your best effort, goodness sakes, DON’T BE SORRY!!
You made an error. Accept the mistake. Learn from it. And embrace the journey.
To my fellow Perfectionistas…
Don’t be determined to play perfect. Be determined to play your best.
Every mistake you make is an opportunity to grow.
(In the words of TrendSetters) Live. Love. Play.