The mistake many people make, not just in training, but also in life in general, is that they try to achieve perfection. Do you want to know what the problem with this is? No one is perfect. It’s an illusion. By aiming for perfection you set goals so unrealistic that they become impossible to reach and you never feel satisfied.
Instead, strive for excellence. Excellence is about being outstanding. Achieving greatness, brilliance, distinction. So how is it different to perfection? The difference between perfection and excellence is that with excellence, you accept failure and mistakes and you learn from them. Whereas, with perfection you never admit weakness. Everything must be perfect at all times.
How do you improve yourself if you never learn from your mistakes? The answer is, you don’t. You’re never going to be the best at something first time round. It’s not possible. It takes practice. A lot of learning. Advice from those with more experience. It’s ok to ask for help if you need it. That’s what the Freeletics Community is there for. Only once you’ve realized this can you really become the best version of yourself possible.
Apply this to you’re training. Follow these tips to become someone pursuing excellence, not perfection:
Reward yourself for effort
Are results important? Of course they are. But if you focus only on results and you end up not achieving them, you will feel as though your efforts were worthless. Instead, reward yourself for your effort. For example, you didn’t get a PB this time but instead you mastered a pullup. You didn’t get the result you wanted. But you still worked hard and improved in another way. You can always go back to working on that goal next time.
Focus on what you have already achieved
Perfection is always about thinking that you haven’t done enough. Like there is so much more that you can and should do. You need to stop focusing on what you haven’t achieved. It’s a constant unnecessary pressure. Instead, think of how far you’ve come. What have you accomplished? Where were you 6 months ago? You have done something that others would say is impossible. So who cares about what you haven’t done? That’s nothing compared to what you have.
Don’t feel that you aren’t good enough compared to others
Don’t look at other people and think you aren’t good enough compared to them. Because you are. Instead, use their success as motivation. Not as something that makes you feel inadequate. If someone is further ahead at something than you are, look at this person and tell yourself that you too can achieve what they have. And you will. You have your own unique goals. Your own unique idea of excellence. And you’ve worked hard for your own development. So stick to it. Don’t try to achieve someone else’s success. Work on your own.
Accept mistakes. Ask for help if you need it. Focus on the process as well as the results. It might take longer to reach your goals and others might seem further ahead. But that doesn’t make any difference. Because you will reach them at one point. And in the end, that’s all that matters.
We want to hear from YOU. What have you learned from mistakes? Do you make room for error or do you try to get it perfect every time? Leave a comment below.
