Dear Athlete

Dear Athlete,

It must seem an impossible distance, the space between where you are now and where you wish to be. You have experienced so much success that people expect it of you as a regular occurrence and each time you approach the block you are paralyzed before you even get there by feelings of terror that you might not live up to their expectations. Worse yet, you might not live up to your own. You’re better than this, right? Yes, of course you are.

It is lonely when you’ve climbed to the topmost branches of the tree and there are few people with the knowledge or experience you need to guide your journey to the next bough. It may feel as though you are all by yourself, and perhaps you are in some ways, but you have a legion of supporters at your back and the good news is that all you need to be successful is hidden inside yourself. You’re more than capable of what comes next and what has come to pass was not a stroke of luck. Sometimes a bit of perspective is all you need.

Here is what I wish to tell you to calm your mind, soothe your heart, and lift your spirit: we learn more from our failures that we do from our triumphs, set smaller goals on your path towards the big ones and celebrate the attainment of each of them as though you made the Olympic team, and keep in mind that if you are not training harder than you’ve ever trained before then you will never…