Leaving 2020 in 2020
By iNSPIRE Sport
The year of 2020 looked different for everyone. With the COVID-19 pandemic evolving, a spectrum of adversity was revealed for people. Athletes were no exception to this with almost all being forced out of training at some point. Whether you had to lockdown once or multiple times throughout the year, everyone faced different challenges that are all valid, and if not reflected on properly, can negatively affect the new year. Today’s blog discusses leaving 2020 in 2020, but also how to grow from what was such a terrible year.
Write out the good and the bad
This approach of reflection is similar to writing out new goals or resolutions for the year – it helps provide closure. Writing out both the good and bad is crucial and you should provide separate sections on a page for both of them.
Acknowledging what was good last year can be very helpful as it allows you to clearly see what you are grateful for and helps you prioritise what to continue to focus on in 2021. You could write a list of people that make your life better, something you achieved/enjoyed in your sport or even some new hobbies that you found.
As daunting as it may be, writing out the bad is just as important. Doing so allows us to objectively review what went wrong and how we can either avoid or manage it better for the future.
Judgement free self observation
This might sound like a weird one, but trust us, it is another very important skill to have. Athletes, most of the time, are already their biggest critics. They are the ones that put pressure on themselves to train harder, win a competition, eat healthier, get more sleep etc… which is what usually makes a good athlete a great one. However, for once, you don’t need to do that. Give yourself that chance to sit back and reflect on the decisions, events and relationships of 2020 without criticism. Remind yourself that you are human, everyone makes mistakes and that it is okay to not be okay. Read our blog on learning from mistakes here.
All of these tips may seem far from athlete or sport focused, but having a well balanced life allows you to be the best athlete you can be. Person first, athlete second.
Set new goals and resolutions
Setting good intentions early on in the year will set you up for success. While you don’t have to feel happy and healed immediately from the last year, put your energy into the right areas through setting ambitions. Read our blog on preparing for 2021 here.
For sporting purposes setting weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly goals with measurable outcomes can dramatically help your performance. Breaking down the big goals into time frames and more manageable sizes can help you properly and efficiently work through the necessary processes to achieve them. Check out our peak performance mindset blog.
So while we are saying to leave 2020 in 2020, we must take the lessons we have learnt from such a terrible year and utilise them to make 2021 the best possible year we can have. The iNSPIRE team wishes you all the best in the year ahead and hopes that you achieve everything you have set your mind to!
