CLOSING THOUGHTS

What is it Like to Be the Best at Something?

Maturation takes a full circle. In human development, we start as dependents, become independent, and then our final years as dependents. Similarly, using skiing as an example, the beginner concentrates on where to point their skis, the intermediate skier focuses on technique, and the elite skier once again focuses on where the skis are pointing. So what does it mean to be top level? What is a world champion or world record holder? Is there a mould, or should we consider a paradigm that considers how to create a world champion? Simply put, the athlete has done something no person has done before. The athlete is not part of the normal bell curve. Instead, they are at the top end.

In the introduction I stated the motive for this manual. The goal of the athlete is to learn and rehearse skills so they can be retrieved tournament day. The goal of the coach is to help the athlete reach the above goal. This manual explored the process, not the final product, to identify, nurture and control an elite athlete’s abilities. As well, special emphasis was placed on achieving success without negative side effects, physical and mental. The best in the world experience competition differently from recreational competitors. During competition, the athlete puts themselves into a state of abnormality, and then returns to their normal state after the competition. This occurs physically and mentally, without any negative consequences. Ideally, during peak competition, the elite athlete may be in a state of euphoria mentally, and a state of flow, physically. After the competition the athlete can safely return to normal stasis. However, this may not always be the case. Alternatively,  the athlete could be terribly anxious, or even in a state of nervous breakdown because of feeling of responsibility and pressure. Then after competition the athlete experiences relief. Relief that the competition is over. The athlete has clearly not enjoyed them selves. So at the elite level, competitions feel more dramatic, black and white. An elite athlete has to have a personality that is okay with that.

“Perhaps the best approach to sport psychology intervention is to acknowledge that this discipline is in its infancy, and ironically the group of athletes least understood are elite athletes.”
(from “Burnout in Elite Athletes”, A. Vitols 1994)

In conclusion, when looking at the best in the world, we never know what it could be. How could we? No one has ever done anything like it before. These athletes, upon finding their unique fit into the universe, realize that they are completely different. The best in the world at the time. Someone that no one else understands, but all want to be.

A Possible Road to Self-Actualization

I believe we want to be loved and appreciated and cared for by certain people. That may or may not happen. Legally there are rules of how things should and should not be done. But none of these things address what we need. What we need we already have, as we are born into it. The universe brought us here to fit in, and it will support us all the way if we listen.

I wish everyone success on the path to self-actualization.

In love and light

Anda :o)