What are you willing to pay for athletic success? This is a question you probably never posed to yourself but it is extremely important if you are to be fulfilled with your athletic experience.
Many athletes set amazing goals: national cuts, making the varsity team, breaking into the starting line, achieving a personal best, etc. These targets are a great jumping off point to move your sporting experience forward. Achieving any of these goals would stir a tremendous amount of positive emotions. In fact, personal achievement is the quest of not just athletes, but every human being, no matter their circumstances.
Unfortunately, there is something that often gets in the way of an athlete and their goals… PAYMENT!
I’m not talking financial payment. The payment that matters most is sweat equity, or the amount of work you are willing to do to achieve something of value.
There are so many athletes that look back at their season with regret and despondency after another year of falling short of their goals. Just setting a goal is not good enough. YOU CANNOT TELEPORT YOURSELF TO SUCCESS, even if you want it really bad!
Athletic success requires payment. Payment does not necessarily mean paying the price or sacrificing everything in your life to achieve a goal. That is not the healthiest and happiest way to goal achievement. The payment required for success is called WORK! To truly achieve something, you must be willing, motivated and focused on the work necessary to achieve it. In other words, you cannot achieve a $100 goal for $10 and some pocket change.
For example, my 8 year-old son wanted a Wii U for his birthday. Every time we went to Game Stop, he would play their Wii U on display for as long as he could. When it was time to leave, he would turn to me and say, “Dad, I want a Wii U.” I told him that it cost $350 to buy it and he could save his money if he REALLY wanted to get it. He went home and counted his money only to discover he had about $31.07 and some plastic golden doubloons he received in a birthday goodie bag. He was disappointed but we talked about finding a way. Over the course of six months, he looked for ways to earn extra money, started an art studio to sell his masterpieces to family members, asked for Game Stop gift cards for every holiday, etc. He was willing to do whatever it took to buy that Wii U. Wouldn’t you know, that determined boy earned enough money to pay for the Wii U and two games. When he paid for it, you could see the joy and sense of pride on his face. He definitely EARNED it!
Half-effort, going through the motions, laying on the couch or just showing up will never earn you athletic success, or success of any kind, for that matter… And the sting of regret will hurt more and last longer than any discomfort from hard work. Success requires that you pay IN FULL before you earn what you want. Are you READY to get to WORK?
INSIDE THE WAR ROOM: Working for Success
This tip may sound insignificant but it is very impactful. Ask yourself during or after a workout or practice session, “Will this level of work pay for my goal?” If your answer is “no” then what do you need to do, at that moment, to up the ante?
You can’t teleport yourself to success but you can definitely transport yourself to success by doing the WORK!