Work to improve not for results.

 

    Well, guys, it has certainly been a while since I last wrote anything on my blog, but today I want to talk to y'all about improvement. After over one year of not competing in any fencing tournaments because of the covid quarantine, I will finally be participating in a competition and today I have a few short paragraphs describing my thoughts on the concept of improving.

    Lately, I have been thinking a lot about managing stress, that is tournament-level stress, and being able to do well at my tournaments. Trust me, no one likes preparing for months in order to not perform at your full potential. But why are we stressed out when we compete? Well, it is simply because we want to do well, and perhaps we want others to know that we can perform and are in fact, good competitors. Some will argue that this is a mindset of success, but I beg to differ.

      I believe that we need to be improvement-oriented and not results-focused. My fencing coaches stress this all the time, but why do they do it? Well, let's dissect this phrase a bit and look at the parts individually. It's relatively easy to have a big dream or goal that you want to accomplish but it is often always challenging to accomplish it. Most people think that the resistance can't be overcome and give up and fail. However, the few individuals that persist eventually conquer any obstacle in their path. Perhaps that last sentence was cheesy, however, there is a lot of truth to it. I think that it is important to focus on improving what you are good at and becoming adequate at what you are bad at thus augmenting your overall performance. And the best thing about this idea is that it applies to work, sports, and life in general.

    When we work towards improving ourselves, we can set gradual goals and observe our progress over time, allowing our subconscious to reach a state of accomplishment. So as you become better at something by staying motivated and focused, your proficiency in the task at hand will consequently increase, and therefore the results will naturally follow. It's as simple as this. If I fence at a tournament and I don't do well, that is okay, because now I can take that result as a baseline, and work towards improving for the future. A bad result does not mean that I am a bad fencer and should feel ashamed. It also does not mean that I will forever be bad or perform at this level, as a matter of fact, I know that I can continue to work hard and improve, and then as my fencing ability increases, then so will my results. We are our hardest opponent, and if you look at any top-level athlete, they don't train to beat other athletes, but rather they train to beat themselves, because they are not chasing others, but they are pursuing improvement. Another key idea to note is that the more resistance in our path, the greater the accomplishment, this is often overlooked, but it is important to be able to channel opposition into vigor and determination to drive forwards. The more resistance we face, the greater our feeling of success.