Use Your Dark Side

written by JOSH GESSNER | The Athletter

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Use your Dark Side.

Most players don’t realize how powerful their “dark side” can be.

The most successful people I know are driven by more than just ambition:

They’re fueled by a deep, often painful source of insecurity.

They feel like they’ll never be enough.

Never live up to their full potential.

Never be accepted.

This fear pushes them forward, even more than their goals do.

It's this relentless force that fuels their pursuit for greatness.

There was a study on mice that showed:

They run harder away from a predator than they would toward food, even when they were starving.

And the same is true for us.

We’re often more motivated by what we’re trying to escape:

Than by what we want to achieve.

So, ask yourself—what are you running from?

If failure isn’t scary, if the stakes aren’t high, you won’t push as hard as someone who’s all in.

If you’re not driven by something deep within, you’ll always play it safe.

And that’s the problem—if you never go all in, you’ll never know what you’re capable of.

For me, it’s a deep fear that I’ll never be enough, that I’ll never truly reach my full potential.

I don’t know where it came from, but it’s been there for as long as I can remember.

And it pushes me.

I’ve learned to let that insecurity fuel my drive, to make me strive for excellence no matter what I’m doing.

Because the alternative—the feeling of being inadequate, the regret of not giving my all—is far worse.

Your Dark Side can also come from your doubters.

Someone to prove wrong.

The best underdog athlete stories start this way.

The potent energy of proving someone wrong pushes people to new heights.

When I played, I focused on not disappointing the people who invested in me.

Looking back, I realize that this was a different type of energy.

Trying to prove someone right, to live up to others’ expectations, makes you play carefully.

You’re more focused on not failing than playing to your potential.

When you’re proving someone wrong, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

You play with a chip on your shoulder, with a boldness that pushes you to perform at your peak.

Everyone has a dark side.

A fear, a doubt, or someone to prove wrong.

Instead of ignoring it or feeling ashamed, lean into it.

Use it to drive you forward.

Use your insecurities, your frustrations, and even your fears as fuel to become the player you know you can be.

So my question to you today:

What’s pushing you?

Who are you going to prove wrong?

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