The 4 Things Athletes Must Do to Guarantee Success.. On and Off the Field (Part 1)
Its amazing how time just flies by. For 30+ years I’ve been so fortunate to help athletes of all ages improve their athletic performance, both from the injury recovery side, and from the strength and conditioning side. Throughout that experience I have seen the athletes who achieve the most success exhibit these 4 traits.. Lets see what they do….
#1) CONSISTENCY- this is #1 for a reason. The greatest predictor of success is showing up EVERY day. Period. You can have the greatest training program of all time, in the most well equipped facility ever built. If you aren’t there, they don’t work. You can make all the excuses you want, but if you are not being relentlessly consistent; getting better every day; I guarantee you someone else will be. Just the other day one of my athletes had car trouble and had no ride to the gym. He took a bus, a train, and an Uber so he didn’t miss a training day. Is that something you are willing to do to get better?
#2) INTENT- “having the mind, attention, or will concentrated on something or some end or purpose.” You show up every day…great job!! Now what? You have to train with purpose…what are trying to achieve and how do I get there? I break this down into 2 parts:
a) Daily Intent- be focused on TODAY, the RIGHT NOW. The goal is to leave the training session a little better than you started. Be locked in and focused on that goal, no matter what you have planned that day.
b) Short term goals- where do you want to be in 3-6 months? Have a plan and stick to it. Life throws all sorts of things at you, and there will be times where you have to make adjustments to your training. Injuries or illness, family, school; all will throw a wrench into your routine. Having those goals helps keeping you on track as much as possible, and returning to your regular schedule easier. In the end, hoping things will work out, or just talking about it, never works.
I hope this helps athletes and parents understand what the successful athlete does to optimize their potential. Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon!