Strong is Better Than Perfection

A client of mine preparing for a major race just a month away, found herself reaching for perfection.

Perfect training. Perfect mindset. Perfect execution. Up to this point in her ultrarunning, she’d assumed the best way of achieving her goal depended on a flawless race but now, the mere thought of starting that cycle all over again felt like burnout waiting to happen.

In our coaching sessions, we discovered that her need for perfection wasn’t a conscious strategy. Deep down, she felt she needed to insulate herself from the physical pain, fear, and disappointment she anticipated in the race. If everything went perfectly, she reasoned, she could avoid experiencing any of that discomfort.

But running an ultra is already a monumental task and demanding flawless perfection on top of that multiplies the pressure tenfold. No one - not even elite athletes - has a perfect race. With so many miles and hours, something is bound to go wrong. If your race depends on getting it perfect, you’ll almost inevitably become discouraged. 

On race day, if perfection is the only way to finish, the smallest issue feels catastrophic. Problems shake your confidence because they mean you’re not doing it right, so you probably won’t finish. It won’t matter that you're strong enough to regroup and push through a low because in perfectionist thinking, a perfect runner shouldn't have gotten in a low in the first place.

The voice in your head criticizes every mistake, and quitting starts to seem like the only way to shut it up.

Even if you finish, the victory feels hollow if it wasn’t flawless. 

Perfectionism becomes a crutch. The longer you depend on it to protect you from challenges, perfection to avoid challenges, the longer you delay developing the mental strength you really want.

There’s a better way: trusting your mental strength.

Mental strength is your true asset. When you trust it, you don’t need everything to go perfectly. You can adapt, solve any problem and keep moving forward, no matter what happens. Yes, you might face fear and disappointment during the race, but with mental strength, you know you can face them head-on.

The best part? You can grow your mental strength with every experience, whether you finish or DNF. Unlike perfection, it doesn’t end with the race; it’s always with you, ready to tap into.

You just need to see the mental strength you already possess, learn to harness it, and notice how it builds with every race. It’s far more reliable than obsessing over perfection.

When you let go of perfection, you can relax, be present, and even enjoy the race. You trust yourself to handle whatever comes, freeing yourself from the paralyzing fear of making mistakes. Problems don’t derail you - they become just another part of the journey that you know you can manage.

So next time you catch yourself grasping for perfection as protection, remember - you don’t need it. 

You already have a reserve of mental strength and the more you trust and use it, the stronger it becomes.