overcoming pressure

One major challenge many athletes face when going after their goals is confronting expectations from others. Athletes may hear things such as, "You're way better than that player" or "I know you can do this." Although, it may come off as positive on the outside. On the inside, athletes often become nervous. This is because many top athletes are perfectionists by nature, excelling academically, and expecting the same consistent improvements in their respective sports. The setback from this is that in sports, athletes deal with many more variables that are outside of their control.

Struggling is one of the most important skills to success. Yes, I did mention that struggling is a skill. This skill, also known as, delaying gratification has been proven to produce more success than any other skill athletically, academically, and in life. There are even studies in developmental psychology that show the significant benefits that struggling has on becoming more successful in life.