Not every day is game day

There’s a difference between doing your best and running yourself off a cliff each day. Sometimes it’s easy to confuse the two.

On days when an athlete is competing, you can bet they’re giving everything they’ve got to maximize their performance.

On non-competition days? It’s safe to say that — yes — they’re training hard, but they’re not completely exhausting themselves day in and day out for the simple reason that it wouldn’t be sustainable.

Contrary to what many motivational quotes and social media clips would have some of us believe, giving something your best isn’t necessarily a matter of pouring every drop of energy you have into what you’re doing. In fact these two things can be at odds with each other.

It’s just as important to play the long game by exerting yourself wisely and showing up in a manner that can be consistently done over a long period of time.