Have you ever had the feeling that your best just wasn’t good enough?

Essendon AFL midfielder David Zaharakis has been told in no uncertain terms by his coach Mark Thompson that his best is good enough, and he should stop beating himself up over it.

Zaharakis has had 30 possessions or more in five of Essendon’s past seven games, following a chat with Thompson about his mental approach to football.

The 2011 club champion had been setting the bar too high, Thompson said on Friday.

“We got him in. We bashed him up and we told him if he didn’t play well, he was going to get the sack,” Thompson joked to reporters.

“He was putting a lot of pressure on himself, huge expectations. He’s a very proud boy.

“He has massive ability. We just told him to simplify it.

“What he’s doing last year and every other year is enough for us, so don’t make it not enough for yourself.”

Zaharakis says Thompson and assistant coach Simon Goodwin spoke to him after Essendon’s round-eight game against Brisbane.

“I’d had a few bad weeks before that,” Zaharakis told Nine’s The Footy Show on Thursday night.

“He just told me to simplify footy, not really get too many opinions off others.

“I was a bit of a worrier at times, just about my form, and probably asking too many people and sometimes less is more.”

The 102-game veteran had 30 touches in the Bombers’ win over Port Adelaide last week. Finals hopefuls Essendon face another crucial test against Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday.

Zaharakis says the recent seven-game block has been the best football of his career.

The 24-year-old has told the AFL’s website the Bombers are training harder in-season in 2014, doing on average three extra sessions per month than in the past two years.

Zaharakis says the extra cycling and weights sessions have boosted his confidence in his own fitness.