How Voicing Your Expectations Can Harm an Athlete’s Performance
It puts them under immense pressure
“Mentally, I was exhausted.”
You don’t expect one of the toughest athletes ever to say this. Yet these were Michael Jordan’s words after he retired in 1999.
The biggest challenge in pro sports isn’t physical, it’s mental.
Anxiety is a side effect of innocent questions
My grandmother never saw a basketball but knew who Michael Jordan was.
The insane fame comes at a cost. Your family, friends, fans, and opponents watch your every move. Positive or negative, their expectations leave no room for failure.
I can’t compare my athleticism with Michael’s, but I just learned how that feels.
I run three times a week. Every year, there’s a 5 km race in my town that I participate in. My goal is to improve my previous time. I don’t compete against anyone but myself.
Last year, I was the fastest among the ninety-two people from my company. To put things in perspective, there were 12,784 men in the competition. I was #190. I didn’t win the race. I was just the fastest among my colleagues.
