Photo by cliff 1066
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen.”
― Michael Jordan
I get many calls from athletes saying they are willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to make it to the pros, college, or whatever level of their respective sport is…but do you REALLY know what it takes to get to the next level?
HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT
*Giavanni Ruffin, fellow ECU Pirate is featured in this video
Hard Work
If you’re not as talented as others, your abilities will be built off of HARD WORK. While I find many people are willing to train their butts off in the weight room, are they willing to put in the same effort outside of the weight room? This is where I find most fail, there isn’t much accountability, their teammates aren’t around, their coaches/trainers are no longer in their face, it’s all up to them now.
Hard work doesn’t just mean grinding out a set of squats or pushing through that last gasser, the other half is outside of the gym. This means to make wise choices:
- Do you go to bed early or go out to that party?
- To prepare the right food or just pick up something on the way?
- To spend that extra time in the athletic training room or to go home and chill?
There are many variables that can break you outside of the weight room, it’s about making the right choices. And for those that say X Coach is too far away to train with or my commute is taking too long to go to the track/gym, you should be asking yourself -“how badly do I want it?”
Template to Success
According to Steve Jobs it’s about two things:
- Passion
- Talent Scout
Passion
To sum it up Steve states if you don’t love it you will give up, it’s about perseverance. I completely agree, you have to truly love your given sport to hit the gym for 1-2 hours and then hit the track for another 1-2 hours a day. To add to that people in NYC generally will have long commute between the track, weight room, going back home…then repeating it all over again…perseverance at it’s finest!
A typical student athletes day may consists of work, school, training, eat, sleep repeat. It’s not a glamorous lifestyle but if you TRULY want to succeed in your sport, this is what you’ll be willing to do.
Talent Scout
For the athlete, this means to have a great support staff:
- Sports Performance Coach
- Nutritionist (sometimes this maybe the Coach)
- Teammates to push you
- Family that supports you
Building a strong supportive network is key to helping you succeed during your off-season. This strong network will help you make good decisions and to stay focused during the tougher days.
No more excuses, set a plan, build a network, and make it happen!
Team Fusion