Share from Arcelor: Don't compare yourself to others and do what you think is right

From The share from Arcelor, you may not be the first time you've heard someone say that comparing yourself to someone else or listening to someone else's opinion of you can damage your mental health. I share these just because I hope my stories and ideas about this can help some young athletes around the world.

Sharing from Arcelor

It's probably not the first time you've heard someone say that comparing yourself to someone else or hearing what others say about you can damage your mental health. I share these just because I hope my stories and ideas about this can help some young athletes around the world.

A personal story:

When I was 16 years old, I won the World Junior Badminton Championship as the first European and a lot of people started paying attention to me, so I also heard a lot of new opinions about my game. Both good and bad.

Most commonly, people think I'm tall and skinny and can't possibly be a good MS player. I was still young, and the opinions of others really annoyed me a little.

That's when I started growing. 1.85, 1.87, 1.90 until today's 1.94. I remember when I was around 17 years old, I had to make a new passport and I was very frustrated because it said 1.90cm because not many world-class MS players were so tall.

I started from Bao Chun-lai, Muhammad Hafifi-hashim, Park Sung-hwan and later Chen Long, and I watched a lot of videos and learned their playing style because they were also very tall MS players. The thing is, in my head, I know I'm 1.94 even taller than all of them.

When I encounter something unpleasant in training or in a game, negative emotions breed in my heart, and I sometimes blame it on my body type. I may be too tall and too heavy. I spend countless hours reading and trying to find new recipes to help me lose weight, make me more flexible + stronger, and make my movements smoother.

I would become so emaciated at some point that I would have no energy at all after training and my performance would be affected. I think being lighter would help my game. Absolutely not. The problem was that I was so stubborn that it took me a long time to realize how I had ruined my life. But with the help of a lot of people around me (family, friends, coaches, psychology coaches, nutritionists, sports coaches, etc.), I slowly began to realize it was time to change my mindset.

I slowly began to change my mind: "Being tall also has a lot of benefits, as long as I can improve my flaws at the same time."

Don't forget my strengths, my opponents will have a hard time playing against me. "I stopped thinking about what other people thought of my game and I started putting all my energy into training, and off the pitch, my focus was on building myself into a healthy and resilient athlete.

In terms of physical training, I am now very fortunate to work with Sean Casey, who is not only my nutritionist, but also my fitness coach. We never saw a tall MS player as a disadvantage and now we've been working together for over 6 years and now we know a lot to keep me fit and fit to compete at the highest level, what works and what doesn't.

Just a few thoughts and a gentle reminder, whether you're high or not – try not to let other people's opinions ruin everything for you. Also, don't compare yourself to others, do what you think is right, and do your best to be with people who support you in chasing your dreams.