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PEOPLE PLEASER

 

Are you a people pleaser?  Have you ever given any thought to that notion?  It's human nature to be a people pleaser and swimmers are human maybe a little freaky at times, but human none the less, so yes you are a people pleaser.

Swimmers have a lot of people watching them from parents, coaches, peers, friends and yes ourselves.  This one thought is probably always on your mind to one extreme or another, "I just don't want to let anyone down including myself."  

Dwelling on this adds another level of stress and anxiety as you step onto the blocks and may sabotage your performance.   It may serve you well to stand up, take a step back and look around.  Understand the power of racing the self fulfillment in accomplishing a goal that you put out there. All those people watching you are your support system, there to praise you after a good race and to pick you up with encouragement after a bad race.  I always giggle to myself when kids ask me what a cut is or what their time is and I always respond the same way which is I don't know.  If it's not important enough for you to know what makes you think I'll know.  Coaches have a lot of swimmers they are working with.  True story.  I coached my own daughters for most of their swimming career and I can honestly say I never knew their times, maybe I knew the neighborhood, but not the exact time.  What I think I am trying to get you to understand is that you need to let go of all the outside stress and anxiety and focus on what you do well and have FUN doing it or what's the point.  

At the end of the day you need to be comfortable and confident in YOUR skin and race because you enjoy pushing your limits to see how far YOU can go and understanding that at times you will come up short.  Even in failure you enjoyed the opportunity you had to chase that goal and you know how to pick yourself up and continue Your fight.


NEXT:  BOUNCING BACK

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