Are you feeling stressed out because you’re not improving as fast as you would like in Jiu-Jitsu?
Is it making you unhappy?

Well, even though that is normal, you should still seek to not lose sight of one simple fact: Jiu-Jitsu should be an outlet for the stress you’re experiencing in everyday life.
Not something that adds to it.

Tom DeBlass shared why you shouldn’t feel bad but, rather, proud of yourself:

Most people quit Jiu-Jitsu because of unrealistic expectations. Stop comparing yourself to other people.

You already have stressful lives, stressful relationships, stressful jobs, stressful home life…
You’re training Jiu-Jitsu to be a better person. To lose some weight, to build confidence, to to make friends. Maybe to compete for leisure.

There’s a very small percentage of people who are training to be a world-class competitor. Stop comparing yourself to these people. It’s not you versus them.
The irony in Jiu-Jitsu is that everybody wants to beat somebody. But the one person you truly have to dominate is your own self!

DeBlass emphasizes that, even though you should aim to improve, you should be celebrating the very fact that you’re showing up on the mats:

You’re taking away so much joy from your life, that Jiu-Jitsu could be adding.
It’s just a game!

Who cares if you get tapped in training? You could be training two days a week, compared to somebody who could train five days a week. If you can train once a week, that’s 52 times a year…
Why are you not proud of yourself? Celebrate yourself!

Don’t be so hard on yourself. Yes, you want to improve, you want to get better.
But when you go home everyday, don’t look at getting tapped or your guard passed as a failure. Look at it as a way to learn.

He concludes:

This is just a game – are you going to get mad if you lose a monopoly game?
Why are you getting mad when you have a bad day in Jiu-Jitsu, that’s not even a bad day! It’s just another chance for you to learn.

Don’t take away the joy that you should be having in Jiu-Jitsu.
Be proud of yourself.

 

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