Anyone have things in your game you know need to be fixed, but somehow, you end up compromising in training and not making the gains you want? I spend a lot of time beating myself up, but that's not helpful. Help me out here.
From what I saw in Sugar Ray Leonard, Pernell Whitaker, James Toney, and some other guys, being a student of the game, having an attitude of constantly learning something new, it is not bad at all. However, you cannot perfect everything in a limited amount of time. Something you gotta go and fight with what you already have at the current moment.
Perfectionism is something that will hold you back and stop you doing things. Focus on the process, on what you can do right now.
Leonard is an interesting case. Started at 16, 3 years later Olympic Champ, then for my money became, at His Peak, the best Fighter I have seen. What interests me, is what He did before, Gymnastics.
I am not sure about 16. I watched "beyond the glory", I think it was a bit earlier. But yes, once he started competing in amateurs, he got to the top ranking vary fast.
Thanks for taking this seriously. Sometimes I just feel like I can't measure up to my own expectations, get frustrated, and have a bad time training. That happens less and less in the past few weeks, but ONLY because I lowered my expectations. Mentally, I have not been right, but I will try to get back on top TODAY.
Ever get caught with an extremely sloppy punch when sparring, or during a fight? It happens. Don't fret about it. Just keep working hard and that's all you can do.
If you have something that NEEDS to be fixed or improved, dedicate attention to it. Like entire training sessions. Too many guys try to work on everything in every session. In any sport, it works best to have focused practices for one or two things. Or ask yourself what's important. Maybe you don't do something "right," but it can work to your advantage if you perfect it. Awkwardness is one of the most underrated attributes in boxing.
Why will seeking perfection hold you back? I am a perfectionist and I get reallly annoyed at myself when I do stupid things. Mates used to ask if I got annoyed at opponents during sparring but I get annoyed at myself.
Because it's not realistic or a goal that can be achieved. The aim should always be to improve. Aiming to be 'perfect' just reinforces that you're not perfect, that fosters an attitude of frustration and avoidance. It's a misplacement of focus, you only improve when you focus on what you're doing, not on what you can't do. If you get annoyed at yourself you're letting the past impact the present, that takes away your focus. Focus is the most important things for relaxing and getting into the 'zone', and hence performance. You need to be able to flush mistakes away as soon as you make them, not continuously remind yourself about them. When you focus on what you're doing right now, on the process, then you're least likely to make mistakes. If you get annoyed at yourself for a mistake then you're holding onto it for too long and letting it detract from your focus, which increases your chances of making more mistakes. You don't train to be slow so why would you train to be unfocused? You can evaluate what you did right and wrong after the training session or fight, in a positive way that is focused on growth and going forward, not on the past. Goal setting should be done, and in small realistic steps to reach a larger goal. Setting a goal of being 'perfect' is unrealistic and unhelpful. Psychological skills in itself won't win you a gold medal but it can make you lose one, so dedicate some time to your psychological skills. 'Perfectionism' is a sign of poor psychological skills. You need to understand that regardless of what you do in life, perfection is unattainable and a negative idea. Find someone with anxiety, depression, addiction issues etc. and chances are they'll have issues with perfectionism. Focus on improvement, on things that matter to you.
