HOW TO LEARN AFTER COMPETITION

A 5 steps guide to overcoming a loss and learning from it

Here are 5 steps you should do after the competition when the dust has settled and your mind is more clear:

Step number 1: analyze your matches

the first step is the most important. You want to analyze your matches. sit down with yourself and make a list of 3-5 things you did good and 3-5 things you want to improve.

You want to forget about the outcome. Focus on what you can learn from your matches. How you fought, how was your warm up and your mind during the competition. Remember when you win everything isn’t perfect and when you lose everything isn’t terribly wrong. So you can learn from wins and losses.

Step number 2: refined your areas

now that we analyze the good and bad its time that you find time to work specifically on those areas to improve them. Thinking about it isn’t enough. If you saw that your guard retention was good, or you gave your back too easy spend some time a day to drill and improve it. 15-30 minutes before / after practice is always good. That alone give you a new purpose in training and a whole new motivation  to go and train.

Step number 3: forgive yourself and put your mistakes behind you

Successful people fail more than unsuccessful people. After all the work you will do if you start doubting yourself during a match just remember – “NEW MATCH” repeat that over and over. The  past does not equal the future and every match starts 0-0

Step number 4: Visualization technique

Visualize yourself in the same positions that didn’t work for you last time. Whether you got passed or swept or even choked, visualize yourself in that same position but doing the right technique this time. See yourself over and over again doing this technique that will work the next time. It’s super important for you to believe in yourself and in your technique when you are moving forward.

Step number 5: move on

Whether you won or  lost, keep going with confidant. What is the worst thing about losing? No, it is not the loss itself. It is the potential for lost confidence which can lead you down to more loses. If you lost but you learn a lesson and proceed confidently you actually really won. If you lost and lost confidence in yourself you actually lost twice.

This brings us back to the first step which is the most important one. Write down 3 things that you did well even if  you lost!!