Jacob Wang Week 12: Don't Care Too Much
Just a week ago, the badminton team finally started tryouts, and the roster came out today. When I first joined the team back in freshman year, I was repeatedly told that one of my biggest weaknesses is "bad mental." Initially, I had absolutely no idea what it meant, but what everyone around me said is just to stay positive. Looking back, they were definitely right about me because whenever I made a really dumb mistake or missed an easy shot or just messed up in any other way, my confidence would take a big blow. And so, usually once I make a mistake, my entire gameplay just goes downhill, and I play a lot worse. Since then, I do think that I have made more progress on fixing this problem, and I have seen my performance getting more consistent.
Although oftentimes people like to just look at the more concrete, physical side of things, I believe that a having a better mentality can be pretty powerful too. Of course, just being positive would not actually make you massively improve or anything, but you also won't perform much worse than you are normally capable of. I used badminton as my personal example, but it really doesn't matter. I went to a cubing competition a few months ago and stressed out so hard for no reason that I got an 18 second average in one of the rounds despite usually averaging 12. I may not be very good at it, but over the past couple of years I have been trying to incorporate a change into my thinking. Of course it is rather difficult to be positive about this class, but in subjects that I actually like, such as math and physics, I try not to stress out too much. It really isn't good to take some things too seriously.
Hey Jacob, while reading your blog post I felt likeI could relate to a lot of the points you made.
ReplyDeleteI find that while trying new activities out it can be frustrating when we realize we aren’t exactly the best at it. Personally, as I get older I try to find activities whether hard or easy, that they are things that make me feel fulfilled. This change in mentality has been especially rewarding because when I don’t set expectations or presume the outcome of things I am more shocked and fulfilled by reaching accomplishments. Oftentimes the pressure to do well can be extremely overwhelming, but when I take a step back to realign my mindset it definitely helps. Something I found interesting about your blog is that you go to cubing competitions, and it was my first time hearing about a competition like that. However, I think it really goes to show how much we can learn from others as long as we keep an open mind to the possibilities. Thank you for sharing!
Hello Jacob, I agree with you that mentality plays a huge role in confidence. I too play badminton but not in the school team and just like you mentioned I used to feel bad everytime I missed or served bad or accidentally hit it the wrong way, and every single time I used to do this I would say sorry and put on a nervous smile and I knew deep down that my brain was yelling at me, hence all those good feelings I had about the game would just vanish. The solution I sought to this was by changing my internal thoughts, to reflect that everyone makes mistakes and just because I missed a shot does not mean I have to feel bad or I will lose the game, rather I think everyone does this so what? and this helps me shrug that feeling off and concentrate on doing better the next time. I too think that taking things that are not too serious seriously, this does not just affect out stress levels but also out well being as a whole. Anyways I enjoyed reading you blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Jacob! Your blog is really relatable and i agree with on the take that mentality holds power over you and what you can do. I play volleyball and whenever I miss the ball or can seem to play, I really get into my head a lot and put myself down. It really helps when my teammates say its alright and I can try again the next point, but I feel really bad deep down and think I let down my team. So I decided to just stop sharing my emotions on the court and just lock in and always think that I can score the point even if I do bad. This might seem a bit egotistic, but I feel that is really helps since your confidence would be through the roof and thinking that your better than everyone else helps too. This solution might not be the best way to cope with a bad mentality, but I find it good enough for me so thats what I use. It really shows the power of a bad mentality and the toll it can take on your and you blog really reflects how that happens and provides examples to not take stuff too seriously.
ReplyDeleteHello, Jacob! I agree that while skill is important, having a clear and confident mindset is just as if not more important. Our mindset can affect how we perform in all areas of our lives. Your experience with badminton made this blog appear much more personal as you illustrated how a single mistake can cause self doubt which leads to it negatively impacting one's overall performance. I admire how you highlighted how much it is possible for our minds to hold us back, and it is interesting to see how much control our mindset truly has over us. I appreciate your take on balancing out the positive and the negative, as it is not natural to be perfect all the time. I enjoyed reading this blog, keep up the great work!
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