By Priscilla Tallman

Being an athlete is a rewarding experience, but it's not without challenges. Here are seven mental struggles all athletes experience: 

1. Competitor mentality. Conscious or not, when you take on a task or challenge, you assume the role of athlete. The task could be as simple as walking to class or choosing a seat on the bus, but you make it a quest to PR your time or snag the best seat on the bus. We work constantly to be better, faster and stronger than we were last week or last season. It sounds like fun, but for athletes, it can be a constant struggle to better ourselves.

2. Establishing boundaries is difficult. We aren’t used to stopping at the line. We are used to pushing the line and drawing new lines. As a result, we have a hard time establishing boundaries. We don’t often say no. We are conditioned to see a challenge, rise to it and find ways to meet it. That said, finding a healthy stopping point is vital to physical, mental and emotional health.

3. We don’t understand “enough.” Champions don’t stop at enough—they do more than everyone else. That is why they are successful in their sports and fields of competition. But balance is key, and realizing your best efforts are enough is essential for long-term success. Repeat after me: “My best effort is always enough.” 

4. Perfection. Ahh, the “p” word. We play for ourselves, but we would be remiss to say we aren’t also very aware of what coaches, teammates, fans and family expect. It’s part of the deal when it comes to performance, and athletes are not immune. But we have find the switch that allows us to focus on our own ability, our responsibility within the team and the things we can conceivably control—ourselves and our effort. Perfectionism serves no one.

5. Optional means mandatory. We know that optional practice is really code for mandatory practice. Players who think optional is optional find themselves running extra or sitting out a few games. Athlete lingo and reading between the lines is something we’ve mastered. This can make it hard to find balance off the court and realize that in most other parts of life, optional is actually optional. Push hard on the court and hit your optional practices with a great attitude, but understand why you do it—because you chose to.

6. Tough is required. Asking for help is not a weakness—it requires maturity and mental fortitude. We listen to trainers, coaches, teammates and other resources in order to get physically and mentally tough, but asking for a break or time to sort out our emotions is important, too. Some of the most respected professional athletes have attested to a time they went through talk therapy or sought a performance coach. Know when, how and who to ask for help so you can stay at the top of your game.

7. Rest is a four-letter word. Rest seems like a luxury when training is more productive and yields visible benefits, but the research has spoken: recovery and rest are an incredibly important aspect of training. We repair and build muscle in the recovery phase, and sleep improves mental clarity and cell growth while staving off infection and inflammation.