Pressure of Expectations

How many of you started watching Olympics on 2/3? It was certainly addictive for our household, especially the Alpine Skiing.  We even managed to get my dad and my mom into it.  Now, they know all about the 4 main disciplines of Alpine Skiing and they are still having a hard time comprehending the speeds.  

Being such a big Alpine Skiing family, we, of course, had our favorites.  And we made sure not to listen to any news prior to watching the events (recorded).  Like most of you who were following Alpine Skiing events, we also had our surprises.  We watched our favorites missing gates, crashing and/or not finishing events.  We watched one of them sitting on the side of the hill, delaying the inevitable action of facing the media.  That’s when I started to think about this month’s title - Should it be about the disappointment? Or should it be about the failure? Or should it be about the pressure?

Well, disappointment is too harsh and failure is not necessarily true…. Who am I to be disappointed of someone’s performance that I don’t even know personally?  And is missing a gate a “FAILURE”? I think it is a mistake, a fluke or a slip but not a failure.  Finally, let’s think about the “pressure”… These elite athletes live and, most likely, thrive with the pressure of their own expectations from themselves.  For them, that pressure is most likely the fuel that powers them up.  However, I do think that there is a very fine line between the fuel that helps you move forward and the fuel that burns you down.  Most of these athletes are very good at finding the line and keeping themselves on the safer side.  As I read their social media posts, I can tell that their own expectations are already raised and they are aware of the pressure that those expectations put on them.  However, they also know how to deal with the pressure that comes from the audience - completely out of their control.  I want to believe that these athletes know, exactly how, to shut themselves off so the burning fuel will not enter their system FULLY.  

Now let’s take this pressure into our own lives… We also set certain thresholds for ourselves, at every age.  When we don’t achieve it we get upset but, hopefully, we don’t give up trying.  More we try, better we get. “Practice makes it better”…. The trick comes in when we need to separate those two types of “fuels”.  What is too much? When does my fuel become harmful?  Is there a reset button? To be honest, I am still trying to find out the answers.  Everyday, I have certain expectations for myself.  When I don’t meet those expectations, I feel like I am suffocating, but at the end of the day, “I” decide on those expectations.  I try to reset (by taking deep breath) and create a new path to my expectations.  The moment I forget to reset, that’s when things turn upside down.  This month was definitely a great one to exercise my reset button.  I was able to give myself a break with the “train and smile recaps” to be able to focus on my parents more.  Right now, I am 6 classes behind and I don’t have my game plan yet.  But I know that I will be able to catch up because I have a healthy pressure on me (solely created by me).

without that fuel, I wouldn’t have made it down this hill on my skis (I’ve been skiing for 1.5 seasons)

Thanks to that pressure, I am in front of my computer every last day of the month, typing these blogs so that I will meet my own expectations.  Tonight though, I will give myself a break on the workout routine.  Instead, I will give you a different assignment that you can do ANYWHERE/EVERYWHERE…. Think about some of those pressures that you can actually hit the reset button.  Don’t forget, the fuel is to move you forward, not to burn you.  If you are feeling as if you are burning, then take your deep breath and reassess your expectations.  Can you find that healthy balance between the two fuels?  I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.

Big High Five to those of you who can manage the fuel! 

Yes… Derek is up on the podium because he knows how to control his fuel (2nd place in Banked slalom)

This is my reason to take a deep breath and hit “reset”

don’t forget to reset!