On Competing - The Hope / Expectation Spectrum - Adam Van Koeverden (Wed 19 Feb 2014)

Pacific Dragons Premier Opens Crew - CNY / Darling Harbour (Sat 08 Feb 2014)
Adam Van Koeverden (*) writes On Competing (*):

As an athlete, I’ve sometimes struggled with where on that hope (*)-expectation (*) spectrum I should gauge my confidence (*).

Of course, I believe in myself (*), and I know I can win. Without getting too philosophical, I’ve wondered how close I can get to I should win, without crossing that threshold.

I have never believed in destiny (*). I don’t believe that anyone is “supposed” to win. That’s why we compete. That’s the beauty of sport, there is no supposition.

Athletes need to be comfortable with the reality that it is their actions that will determine the outcome.

Hope isn’t enough for me either. It implies that I should simply have faith in some predestined result.

via Hope, Pressure and Expectation: Finding a Winning Combination (*) by Adam Van Koverden (*).

Just brilliant writing. Have thought about hope (*), expectation (*) and destiny (*) a lot here. Adam has captured this better than one I have read before. One last extract from Adam's pivotal post (*) to follow ..