Know your patterns. Don’t try so hard to fight them. Don’t fight your personal style.

We all have a natural way of doing things. Some of those tendencies are more efficient than others. Some aren’t. That’s where improvement usually shows up. But improvement doesn’t always mean becoming someone else.

I think about sprinting. Ben Johnson was known for explosive acceleration and a very high peak. Carl Lewis didn’t get out of the blocks as fast, but he could hold his top speed longer. Over a hundred meters, the differences mostly evened out. If Johnson decided to focus on extending his peak, that focus would come at a cost. Time spent chasing something he wasn’t built for would mean less time sharpening what made him dangerous in the first place.

You don’t have time to be great everywhere. You can aim to be competent across positions, but you’re not going to be an A+ in all of them. Figure out where you’re naturally good and build from there. Let that become your base. Let the rest support it, not replace it.

For a while, this is how I approached training. But looking back, the times I thought about quitting often lined up with the times I was taking training very seriously.

So don’t forget the point of it all. Learn in a way you enjoy. Worry less about outcomes. The real goal is finding a way to stay on the mat. And if that means spending time on weaknesses just because you feel like it, that’s reason enough.