Above: Two athletes who became so good nobody could ignore them. R Kane Waselenchuk, L Paola Longoria
I am a fan of a book titled “So Good They Can’t Ignore You”, by Cal Newport. In this book he argues that passion for a calling in life is the wrong reason to go into that field.
The reasoning is that passion for something means you are looking to get something from it. Instead you should be looking for putting something into your craft. If your craft is playing racquetball, you should be working to get better.
So I asked a player why they post on facebook about how good they are or etc etc. Player’s response was basically that they had to post to keep sponsors happy. In other words, looking for something from a sponsor is looking to get something. Maybe that seems a little harsh as I do get you are trying to please a sponsor but consider this:
Why not give something to your craft?
My advice to the player was they had their effort in the wrong place. Instead of spending time posting about their game, they should be practicing to beat everyone. Start beating people and sponsors will not be able to ignore you. In fact, instead of you working to get to them (sponsors), they will work to get to you!
Learn your craft. Get better at it. That is where it’s at. Getting better. Why do you lose matches? What is it that an opponent exploits in your game? Hint: the serve finds your weakness. What serves are used and where are they hit by opponents? Nobody serves to a strength over and over.
Fix the weaknesses and you may have to hire an expert to do it!