font size A A A

Having a Bad Day? Bummer for you.

Posted by Glenn Mills on May 30, 2011 12:51PM (2,943 views)

I've written and re-written this a few times.  I'm not really sure the right tack to take to get this point across, so I'll make it short.

There is a harsh reality of athletics: There is a direct relationship between work and reward.  With that said, and don't just read these next words, understand them - your competition and the clock don't care about your excuses.

The next time you sit back and feel sorry for yourself because you have too much work, or you're too tired, or you're sore from practice the day before... thank God that you have such problems and not real ones.

The athletic life is short lived.  Before you know it, you'll have a real job and be wishing your biggest problems were if you were going to get your math homework done.  I've adopted a new motto this year when talking to swimmers:  You have two choices in your career.  You can start working on your excuses, or you can start working on your solutions.

Now, sit back for 10 minutes and watch the following video (if it's not showing up, hit refresh).  The next time you feel sorry for yourself, think about people who would LOVE to be in your shoes, with such simple problems.

Visit Sean's Website and follow him on twitter.  Keep reminding yourself that most of us have choices.  Typically the best ones, are the hardest ones.




Responses

Responded May 30, 2011 06:41PM

Love this. Amazing. Thanks Glenn.

Responded May 30, 2011 07:03PM

I can't find the "Like" button!

Responded May 30, 2011 07:08PM

Whoops. There ya go Hank! :)

Responded May 31, 2011 08:20AM

WOW! Absolutely amazing person!

Responded May 31, 2011 03:18PM

Inspirational is an UNDERSTATEMENT!! I really don't think words can truly convey the determination and conviction this guy had. To battle cancer twice, then go climb all 7 summits.....WOW! Kids, if you're reading this blog, now is the time to go out and do something for yourself!! Don't blow it off...... and the hard work should be (and is) a badge of honor. You see how fast time goes by in your races (we swimmers live in tenths of seconds) just know that this is the time in your life going by as well. A great saying I came across in my reading goes like this: Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at will change". Glenn's saying at the top is right on. Best of luck and go for the gold.

Responded Jun 01, 2011 05:03PM

Amazing!!!

Responded Oct 12, 2011 10:46PM

With increasing frequency I find myself printing your motivational articles and putting them in my Masters recruiting/coaching folder. Thanks for the inspiration Glenn :-)!

Responded Oct 12, 2011 10:56PM

Hey Hank... I'm just passing it along. The people IN the posts are the inspiration. :) Gotta love the human spirit.


User_go Please login or signup to leave a comment.


Underwater Tag Cloud

1650 Aaron Peirsol active drag active recoveryswimming aerobic endurance age-group Amanda Beard anchoring android Android app ascending sendoffs backstroke balance beach reading bilateral breathing birthday swim blueseventy Body Shape bodyline brain training breakout breaststroke breath control breathing Brendan Hansen broken swims butterfly catch challenge set coaches coaching combat side stroke competition crossover turn Cullen Jones Cullen JonesKarlyn Pipes-Neilsen cycle rate Dave Denniston descend set distance per cycle distance training dive dolphin dolphin kick DragSox Drills dryland DVD efficiency eggbeater kick Endless Pools Eric Shanteau Eric Vendt etiquette EVF fatigue feel Finis finish fins fist drill flip turn flip turns flutter kick Fran Crippen freestyle gallop stroke goals goswimtv.com hand entry hand exit head position heart rate hybrid IM inner strength iPhone app Jason Lezak Jeff Rouse Jessica Hardy Kaitlin Sandeno Kara Lynn Joyce Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen Kevin Clements kick kids learn-to-swim long axis strokes loping Margaret Hoelzer masters medball Michael Phelps middle distance Misty Hyman mobile video monofin neural Olympics one-hour swim open turns open water Over training pace pace clock paddles paralympics parents passive drag propulsion pull pulling pulse rates pushoffs pyramid questiontaper race specific training racing recovery relay starts resisted swimming rhythm Robert Margalis Roland Schoeman Roque Santos rotation Sara McLarty science Scott Tucker sculling SEALs shoulders sighting snorkel speed work sprint Staciana Stitts Starts stations Steve Haufler straight arm recovery streaming streamline stretch cord stretching stroke count stroke rate subscription support swim across america swim camps swim fun swim technique swim training swim video swimming Swimming Golf swimming music Swimsense swimsuit taper teaching Tempo Trainer tether timing training Triathlon tuck turn Turns underwater dolpin underwater pull Vasa water poloswimming water temp weights work to rest ratio

Who is GoSwim?

We are a group of swimmers who swim really fast, and like to help others learn how to reach their competitive potential in the area of professional swimming.

Want More GoSwim?

Subscribe to our RSS feed Subscribe to our RSS feed


 
built by devtwo