A Clearer Image

August 11th, 2021

A Clearer Image

“Success is no accident.  It is a combination of hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, and sacrifice.  Most of all, love what you are doing or learning to do.”  Author Unknown

To continue our conversation from yesterday about having a vision statement for ourselves, it’s also just as important to enjoy or love what we are doing.  Yesterday I shared an activity that I have my athletes participate in which allows them to verbalize what they want to accomplish and why it is important to them.  I then have them share out with their teammates and we record their thoughts on a vision board in our practice area.  Having their goals out to see everyday adds another layer of accountability, not only for themselves but from their teammates as well.

I want to (insert goal/accomplishment) because (list your reason) and (a supporting reason).

An additional thought about having a clearer image for what you want to accomplish has to do with actually enjoying what you want to do.  Well, enjoying what you need to do in order to accomplish your goal.  For example, an athlete may want to throw the hammer 200’.  They may love to practice and throw, but they are not fans of the weight room.  Their technique may be impeccable, but without an added layer of strength and conditioning, they are limiting themselves in what they can accomplish. 

Achieving goals and setting your sights set on something worth accomplishing does indeed take time, energy, and sacrifices.  It’s the process and loving the process, the day to day mundane activities that gets us where we want to go.  It’s the daily grind.  It’s a sense of accomplishing the day to day mundane tasks that get us where we want to go.  A clear vision of what we want to accomplish helps us focus not only on the bigger picture, but the day to day activities to get us moving one step closer to our goals on a daily basis.

If you don’t love it (whatever you are hoping to achieve) you most likely won’t be as successful in accomplishing that goal.  If you want to earn your doctorate degree, but don’t enjoy the daily grind of securing research articles for your literature review or actually writing about what you find, you probably won’t be as successful.  It may take you longer than you expect, you may get bored or frustrated and quit because you aren’t making progress.  

The same goes for athletic endeavors.  Wanting to throw far is one thing, but engaging in the day to day activities 100% of the time for months and years is what separates those that accomplish their goals and those that don’t.