Why did I lose? Did I wear the wrong outfit? Need to change my racket? i have the passion to
Let’s look at the process of losing:
- I enter a competition with the hopes of winning.
- leading up to the competition I prepare doing what I think is necessary to be at my best.
- game day comes and I play, applying all my learned and practiced techniques.
- I lose and walk away prepared to quit and never play again.
- I awake the next morning with a burning passion to practice harder and do better.
The above process can occur many times before winning starts. Each time losing burns deeper into my psyche and each time I wake the next day with a burning desire to practice harder applying all lessons learned from losing, or my passion for competing lessens and I gradually stop and find another outlet. If your passion is real and deep, you will take the lessons learned from losing, both mental and physical, and turn them into experience that will eventually allow you to change the cycle of losing into one of winning.
What has been your experience in this area? Do you agree the depth of your passion in competition can be measured by losing? How have you used this in your growth? There were times when I wanted to sell my tennis rackets, but the next morning, after a loss, I woke up burning with the desire to practice harder and turn the next match into a win.
