The Fortitude Chronicle: A Weekly Digest of Athletic Determination

Monday Momentum

For the Relentless Mind

For The Injured Athlete

Don't call yourself a patient.

I'll never forget the moment.

I had just won patient of the month for my approach to ACL recovery. Relentless daily work. Every PT protocol plus one more rep. I was proud.

I told my coach.

He laughed and said: "Don't ever call yourself a patient again. You are an elite athlete. Don't sell yourself short."

That one sentence changed everything.

The Real Injury

10 out of 13 years, I broke a bone, tore a ligament, had a concussion, or went under the knife.

5 knee surgeries. A wrist surgery. A fractured back.

Nobody talks about what that does to you mentally. The loneliness. The isolation. The slow erosion of an identity you've spent your entire life building.

Because here's what the injury actually takes from you—it's not your body.

It's your self-image.

The moment you start identifying as a patient, something more important than the injury breaks. You stop seeing yourself as elite. You start measuring yourself against limitations instead of potential.

And that's the injury that never shows up on an MRI.

Two Mindsets. One Athlete.

What my coach understood—and what took me years to fully grasp—is this:

Two mindsets can exist simultaneously.

The athlete who is disciplined, diligent, and committed to the recovery process. And the elite performer who never stops seeing themselves as one.

You don't have to choose between being smart about recovery and being relentless about your identity.

Be both. Every single day.

The Return That Changes Everything

Here's the reframe most injured athletes never hear:

The injury happened to a previous version of you.

The athlete returning to the field isn't the same one who left it. They're more aware. More intentional. More mentally forged than anyone who never had to fight their way back.

Don't spend your recovery trying to get back to who you were.

Spend it becoming someone the old version of you couldn't have been.

Leave them behind. The healthy you is a new you.

Win Every Day

When the scoreboard is taken away, you find out who you really are.

Macro goal: return to play. The north star that keeps you oriented when the process feels endless.

Micro goal: today. The extra rep. The ice bath you didn't skip. The session you showed up for when you had every reason not to.

Rate yourself daily on what you can actually control:

• "How aggressive was I today?"

• "How free did I move?"

• "Did I control everything in my power?"

Not outcomes. Process. Identity. Evidence.

Every micro win is proof that you're still elite—even when you can't prove it on the field.

The Truth Nobody Says

The mental battle is harder than the physical one.

The team moves on. Practice continues. The game goes on without you. And the loneliness of that is something only injured athletes understand.

But the athletes who come back strongest aren't the ones with the best medical care.

They're the ones who never stopped seeing themselves as elite when they couldn't prove it.

Your body is healing.

Don't let your identity deteriorate with it.

You are not a patient.

You are an elite athlete in recovery.

There's a difference. And it's everything.

Two Quotes

1. “Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.” - Gever Tulley

2. “Talent is common. Standards are rare. Talent gets you noticed. Discipline keeps you there” - Pat Riley

Four Posts

To Building Fortitude.

 Best Regards,

Colin Jonov, Founder & CEO Athletic Fortitude