DeSalvo Performance, PLLC

Remember to prepare your mind as well as your body for this weekend’s competition. Get your head ready to push your self-imposed limits out of the way. PRs happen when your body goes faster than “it should”. Let your mind give your body the space it needs to succeed in 2019.

Athletes’ Quest for Perfection

Bad news: You are not perfect, and never will be.

Good news: No one else is either.

Competitive application: It’s noble to seek perfection with the understanding that your functional goal is continuous improvement. Strive to incrementally enhance physical strength and mental toughness to be at your best when it counts the most.

Some athletes turn the noble quest for perfection into a debilitating and depressing process that gradually erodes self-confidence, optimism, resilience and the value of positive experience. Striving for perfection may sound good but it is functional only if viewed through a realistic lens.

Your body doesn't have to be the perfect type or even feel perfectly healthy to compete effectively. Don't let the reality of your imperfection ruin your opportunity to achieve your full potential. Neither you nor the conditions have to be perfect for you to produce a PR.

Many athletes who didn’t feel perfectly well on less than perfect days have won championships. Don't allow feeling less than perfect on a less than perfect day ruin a perfect opportunity for a podium performance.

Grossly unrealistic dreams are comfortable because they are clearly unreachable. It becomes very easy to give yourself a "pass" when dreams are clearly unreachable. Dreams that are too small are no challenge at all. Easily accomplished dreams are also very safe in that the challenge is minimal. Goldilocks Dreams encourage you really work to stretch beyond your current perceived limits.

When looking to achieve peak performance we often focus on strengthening our physical core. Remember to also strengthen your mental CORE (Confidence; Optimism; Resilience; and Experience).