The X-Factor. The game-changing factor of doing (and not doing) whatever necessary in order to take your performance to the next level.
I talk about the “X-Factor” as a singular thing, although it is a multitude of things combined into a single, game-changing attribute. The “X-factor” is simply the culmination of putting athletic success above ALL other things. Easier said than done, and I certainly won’t claim to have had perfect adherence to this principle. Some of these things I learned inversely and anecdotally. Simply put - I tried things and I failed. I learned the hard way. I either failed to execute the necessary things to achieve athletic excellence (and paid the price) OR directly did things that were not congruent with my training goals (again, price=paid).
These are the 2 main things that can go wrong when training for your sport. I will dive deeper into each of them later in this post.
For now, I would like to mention that the “X-Factor” isn’t a have-it-or-don’t type of deal. You can start having this, stop having it, build it, or lose it all the same. It is a practiced thing. So don’t get down on yourself if you aren’t quite where you want to be in terms of your daily habits, start to BUILD them with the following tips to grow your X-Factor.
THINGS TO DO
-Eat like an athlete! You know what I mean!
-Trust in a training philosophy and coach
-Take the extra time to focus on recovery and functional mobility
-Take time out of each day to gain knowledge on your specific sport.
THINGS TO AVOID
-Overtraining! Trust your coach and program. You don’t ALWAYS need to be doing something.
-Neglecting recovery work.
-Late nights out and parties (college athletes)
-Not believing in yourself! You got this!
Don’t let self doubt or complacency put a damper in your off season training. Curiosity killed the cat - but I’m sure comfort would as well. Do the difficult things today to be better tomorrow.
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