Better than ever
Have you ever felt down on yourself because you don’t think you measure up to your friends or competition? Well, stop it! That attitude is taking all the fun out of what you're doing. What if instead you focused on the fact that you are BETTER THAN EVER?
It's the rules meeting at Strongman Nationals, and my four friends/clients who are competing alongside me are all lined up in the same front row of chairs, listening to the seemingly endless rules meeting outlining what's ahead of us the next day. We pass around some pumpkin spice popcorn to make the last few random questions from other competitors go by more enjoyably, and maybe our chomping will drown out our nerves. Finally, we are dismissed to go home and we can chat amongst ourselves.
This is when I decided to give my friends a small present to show my appreciation for all the hard work we've gone through together. I have to laugh at how ironic it is to give them a glittery purple keychain before a tough event like a strongman show, but what's written on the keychain is what matters. Written on the front in bold, psychedelic white letters, serving as a reminder for all of us, are the words: “Better Than Ever”.
No matter who you are at Nationals, it is easy to get nervous and have doubts start to creep in. We all have different levels of experience. Two of my clients (also my friends), Kayla and Morgan, were competing in their first nationals and have fought tooth and nail to be repping higher contest-level weights. They hit so many PRs during prep, and I could not have asked for anything more from them as a coach.
But both had expressed to me that they doubted if they were ready. Maybe they were having the same thoughts I did when I first got to nationals..”Do I belong? Did I just get here by a fluke? What if I get dead last? What if I zero an event?”
I explained to Morgan and later on in an Instagram post, "It's fun to be the big tough 8th grader... and then suddenly you are a freshman again." It's easy to feel like the top dog at shows that you win, but when you level up and start challenging yourself at higher-level competitions, you can't get down on yourself for it being harder.
But if you get to your show and you hit a PR on every single event, but you still don’t win, can you really get down on yourself?! YOU ARE BETTER THAN EVER! And that is SO SO rare and special!
The “Better Than Ever” keychain was actually inspired by a conversation I had with Gary a few weeks earlier. I was having my own doubts. The fact that I had a chance of winning made me put more pressure on myself. As my third Nationals, this was not a “just see what I can do contest” for me.
There was a training day where I was doubting myself. Gary slapped some sense into me by asking the question, “But, are you stronger than ever?” Actually yes, and I am better than ever!
Yes, I did feel stronger than ever as a whole in the events. But I also was more calm and collected, more tactful, able to pivot, and more focused than ever. I knew I must focus on improving my own performance goals and then executing to the best of my ability at the contest.
“Better than ever” is not about hitting a PR every training session, but at least taking away something positive; it can be as small as realizing a certain cue or positioning change or realizing you can recover from a bad rep.
If only I had embraced this mindset earlier in my career, I would have prioritized personal progress instead of following others, which ultimately hindered my growth and made it less enjoyable.
A huge win for me is witnessing my friends and clients shine with a much better mindset than I did at my first Nationals. I do my best to guide my athletes in adopting the right attitude, but it is ultimately their decision whether to approach a competition with a positive mindset. I could not be more proud of them!
I won my pro card at Nationals, so I will once again be the 8th grader, becoming a freshman competing at bigger competitions with heavier weights and competitors. And I am excited because my next challenges are going to help me level up! All I can do is keep focusing on my own progress because….