Im not strong enough. I wont be competitive. We have all heard this before.

So many times Ive talked to people that really wanted to do a certain show and then decided not to because they think they arent strong enough. Something about it scares them and it feels safer to just keep on doing what theyre doing until they are finally ready to compete. For newbies it might be hesitation to do a first show. For vets, maybe its shying away from Nationals even though you qualified and earned the right to be there.

To all those people: you have it backwards.

You think you need to get stronger before you enter that contest. What you actually need is to do that contest to get stronger. If you dont have goals that seriously challenge you (and even scare you a little), you arent working nearly as hard as you could be.