Becoming a pro again
I am trying to get back into professional soccer shape after being retired for two and a half years. For the past year I have struggled to reach my goal and this activity illuminated the many causal relationships that have contributed to this result. Through tracking my time I confirmed that I spend most of my time on schoolwork, self-care, and social time. From examining my Connection Circles model it was clear that COVID-19 was a huge factor that affected many support structures that I had counted on before the pandemic (such as access trainers, gyms, and people to train with). My iceberg model helped me understand the assumptions I have been making throughout my return to training (e.g. thinking that my body would react the same to high-level training as before). Both models helped me differentiate between factors outside my control (e.g. lack of motivation, lack of support structures) and those within my control (reaching out for help, structuring my day more).
Next time I would reach out to more people for help with such a big task, structure my days more since I am busier now, and communicate my needs more with the people around me. I would be more proactive about adjusting to lack of infrastructure. I would focus more on making sure I am getting my basic needs met and not be so hard on myself when I am not reaching my everyday goals.
