When doing any sport it is normal for you to wish to be THE BEST but what is even more important is always making sure to be YOUR BEST! Whether it is in practice or competition you should always strive to complete every single skill you do your very best and then you will always have a great reason to be proud of yourself whether YOUR BEST is THE BEST that day or not! Just remember you are not perfect and no body else is either so as long as you are trying the best you can that is all you can ask from yourself!
Having a competitive personality is a good thing because you always strive to be better but it can take you down a dead-end path if you get too caught up with watching your “competition” improve and forget to work on improving yourself!! Always remember that the people around you are just participants but YOU are your own biggest rival.
Even if you are on a team, only you are responsible for your own performance and your own progress! It does not matter what the person next to you is doing during practice because it is not going to make you better or worse; only you are in control of that!
That being said, although you need to stay focused on yourself and only be thinking about what you should be doing and how to improve, you should NEVER rub something in a class/teammates face if you accomplish a skill before they do AND you should NEVER be jealous of your class/teammate for accomplishing something before you do! You know how hard you have to work to accomplish something and how happy you are when you achieve it so you should celebrate with your class/teammate if they accomplish something too! If everyone encourages each other you it will make a much happier practice environment and stronger team!
There are a few key elements in being YOUR BEST and here is an easy way to remember them!
Believe in yourself and set goals for what you want to achieve
Encourage your surrounding class/teammates and congratulate them if they accomplish something – even if it is something you really want to get and have not accomplished yet!
Stay focused on what you are supposed to be doing and remember your corrections so you can improve
Try, try, try again until you accomplish what you want without getting frustrated!
The best part of practicing being YOUR BEST is that many times it will lead you to be THE BEST after-all!
