Kelsey HigginsonSports Nutrition Coach and Founder at Clutch Day Coaching

Getting better feels like getting worse

2 Sept 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:53

In this motivational monologue, Kelsey Higginson explains that genuine improvement often feels like regression. She outlines how athletes who aim to level up must adopt disciplined, uncomfortable habits—strict nutrition, early workouts, adequate sleep, and academic focus—while sacrificing social time. Progress also involves entering better teams, coaches, and peer groups, which exposes hidden skill gaps and can feel intimidating. Higginson emphasizes that feeling uncomfortable or perceiving oneself as worse is a sign of real growth, and encourages listeners to persist through that discomfort.

Chapters

Nobody tells you this, but getting better actually feels like you're getting worse. When athletes are striving to level up, they're focused on their nutrition, they're focused on getting up early to hit the gym, they're focusing on getting to bed on time, sacrificing time with friends. They're focused on getting their skill work in and keeping their grades up. They're focused on all these things that are kind of painful, that kind of are uncomfortable, that are not easy to do. And then part of getting better is you're putting yourself in new circles. Better team, better coaches, better players. And you take a look around and you You see how far you have to go, that maybe you're not as good as you thought you were, and these athletes are the ones that are the good ones. And that feels intimidating, and that feels uncomfortable. So if you're feeling that, good. That is how you know that you are actually getting better, especially if you can feel those uncomfortable feelings and continue to put that work in.