I was a really bad swimmer.
In fact, at one point I was the third worst swimmer in the state of Utah.
The 50 yard freestyle is the shortest race in swimming, it’s the race you swim when you’re the best of the best or not capable of swimming anything further. I was the latter of the two.
One day standing behind the starting blocks amping myself up for the 50 Free, climbed up and the whistle blew.
I dove in the water and began to swim my heart out.
At the 25 yard mark I did my flip turn to sprint the final 25 yards. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my competition in the lane next to me; he was just a yard or two in front of me.
For the first time in my swimming career I actually believed that I could actually beat that guy. So you know what I did? I swam harder.
25 yards later I looked at my time to see if I had in fact beaten him.
We tied.
What would have happened if I had believed I could beat that guy from the very beginning?
What if I had just made the decision to beat him 25 yards earlier?
I would have won.
All along I believed I was swimming my hardest, but the reality is, I wasn’t.
That day I began an amazing journey, and 18 months later I was in the top 5 in the state and set a new school record.
The only thing holding me back was me.
Heart. Mindset. Focus. Effort.
They can’t be measured, but they determine everything.
Decide. Then act like it.
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