What’s up everyone! I hope your week’s off to a great start.
I’m writing this on Monday and I’m pumped for a new week to begin! I hope you are as well.
Today’s topic is about how our imperfections allow us to grow. The idea of continual growth is something I think about all the time and try to apply to my daily life. There are so many areas of our lives where we can grow: Our jobs, our relationships, our habits, our character… you get the picture. With all of these aspects of our lives to consider, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. We may sometimes feel that we are investing too much time in our jobs and not enough in our relationships. Or vice versa. It can certainly be difficult to balance everything in life, especially if you strive for excellence in everything you do. Personally, I always strive to be the best that I can be. As a husband, a teammate, a player, and a friend, I aim to be the best Brandt Bronico possible. Is it realistic for me to fulfill each of those roles consistently with excellence? Of course not! That’s a lot to handle for one person. But ss it possible to wake up each day and give my best effort? You better believe it! And so can you!
Some people, including myself at times, are so caught up in trying to be perfect that they miss out on things. They’re always thinking, “What do I need to do next?”, rather than focusing on the present moment. Personally, I struggle with this. Although I have become much better at living in the present moment, my wife still occasionally catches me in a gaze and asks, “Brandt, where are you right now?”
This helps bring me back into the present moment.
Having said that, one of the most important aspects of continued growth is understanding that…
1. Success isn’t achieved ‘in a straight line’
2. It’s impossible to be perfect so learn from your imperfections
It has helped me enormously in both soccer and life to realize this. My tendency is to be a perfectionist. Because I hold myself to very high standards, I’m the hardest one on myself when I make mistakes. I used to think mistakes were always bad things. I thought it was the end of the world if I misplaced a pass, got my body alignment wrong as I received the ball, or missed a shot I probably should’ve made. This was until I realized that continued growth and success never happen in a straight line. Our mistakes and imperfections are simply opportunities to learn from. But it’s all about your mindset. You have to see and know that all of your setbacks and so called ‘failures’ are just your stepping stones to success.
I love how the below picture illustrates this point:
