There’s something I would love to share with you today—something I truly wish someone had told me when I first started playing sports and entered the world of fitness many years ago.

The truth is, whether you like it or not, you won’t always play as well as you’d like every time you compete. In fact, I can tell you that many times, you won’t win—even when you give your absolute best effort. And I hate to say it, but that’s just reality.

There will be many days when you don’t perform the way you’d like. But you need to understand that this is completely normal. One of the main reasons many athletes struggle or even fall into depression is because of their high expectations—the belief that they must always bring their best version to every competition. But let me tell you: that’s impossible.

I’m sorry if this sounds a bit negative, but it’s the truth. No matter if you’re feeling emotionally good or bad, you must always give your best, have confidence, and put in your maximum effort. However, you also need to be prepared to manage your thoughts, attitude, and mindset every time you don’t perform as you’d hoped.

Unfortunately, not everything will always go as planned. Many times, you’ll have to improvise. You can’t control everything, but you can control how you react to what happens.

Speaking of control, this reminds me of an excellent CrossFit coach, Ben Bergeron. In his book and training program Chasing Excellence, he explains that as an athlete in any type of competition, there are only five things you can truly control:

• Your training
• Your nutrition
• Your sleep
• Your recovery
• Your mindset

If something doesn’t fall into one of these categories, forget about it. Control what you can control and ignore everything else—such as judges, referees, weather conditions, equipment, and many other factors.

Most people go through life without the slightest idea of what they actually have control over, and many struggle daily to understand the difference.

Imagine a box of matches. Let’s say a regular box contains 20 matches. Each match represents your energy for the day. Your energy is a finite resource—once it’s gone, it’s gone, and you need to recharge. If you burn those matches (your energy) on things beyond your control, you won’t have enough left for what truly matters—things that you can influence, such as your athletic, physical, and mental development, as well as your everyday life.

Train your mind to focus on your training and the things within your control. At the end of the day, the only real competition is with yourself.

Great athletes aren’t great because of their brilliance or talent alone. They succeed because of their daily work, commitment, and—most importantly—their ability to accept mistakes and learn from them. They are consistent in their habits and routines. That’s one of the reasons they’ve won some of their best matches or even entire tournaments, even when playing far below their best level.

There’s a quote that says:

“In the heat of battle (or competition), you don’t rise to your highest level; you fall to the habits you’ve built in training.”

And this is absolutely true. Under pressure, we become our habits—so make sure those habits are good.

A professional tennis player once said that most of the time, you won’t play the way you want to, and things won’t go as planned. So, you need to manage that.

What’s the key word here? Manage.

Manage your mentality when you finish a match where you weren’t satisfied with your performance.

NBA star LeBron James says that it’s impossible to play 80 games in a season and be at your peak for every single one. What matters is trying to give your best effort in each one.

Before I finish, let me share these key ideas with you:

A successful athlete accepts that they won’t always be at their best, but they don’t let that stop them from giving their maximum effort.

A successful athlete understands that success comes from controlling their habits, emotions, and mindset.

A successful athlete knows that to win even on their bad days, they must constantly give their best in training.

A successful athlete never allows a bad attitude to stand in their way.

Finally, I want to leave you with one last thought:

You are not defined by what you do or by your results.

What truly defines you is who you become and how you handle the journey.