Here is just a little bit of Introductory content from the book I hope to release before Christmas. If it catches your interest, let me know.Here are a few
As a volleyball coach and instructor for the past 20 years, I am not the same coach or instructor today that I was 5 years ago let alone what I was 20 years ago. I’m still discovering and learning how to help young athletes benefit from their organized sports experience. I confess that I don’t always do it right. I fail but I don’t give up. I know that I have something to share. How? Over the past few years in particular, many people have sought me out for volleyball training and have encouraged me to share with others what I have shared with them. Much of this is not about physical skills and it is not about volleyball.
The tagline for Athletic Athlete Advantage, is “Training for Success”. What does it mean to become successful or achieve success and just as importantly, why am I choosing to begin with a discussion about success? I believe that meaningful success doesn’t come about by having a self serving, winner take all attitude where you have to do whatever it takes, and use any means necessary to get what you want. Success is not what you see with professional athletes seeking to be the center of attention, full of themselves and oblivious to anyone else around them. Webster defines success as “achievement or attainment of something you set out to accomplish”. I have always admired John Wooden, the former great basketball coach of the UCLA Bruins. He said, “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” A friend of mine once said that he doesn’t believe that any of us were created to be mediocre. I agree. Whatever we are gifted to do or become, whatever our purpose, we should want to do our best. Does that mean that we won’t experience setbacks and get discouraged from time to time? Of course not. It happens to all of us. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb said ” I haven't failed; I've found 10,000 ways that don't work!" Eventually, Edison was successful. I’m sure at times he got discouraged and thought about giving up. I think it’s inherent in us that we all want to be achieve something that has a purpose, value and is rewarding and satisfying.
During my business career, I spent time as a project manager. In developing the project plan, we started with the end in mind and worked back step by step until we were at the beginning, the present. It served to connect and provide a line of sight from where we were to where we expected to be. So it seemed logical to me to start with the end in mind and work back toward the present.
I grouped the material for this book around five key themes.
- Achieving meaningful success requires purpose, passion and goals with a plan. Whether as adults looking for a job or young athletes looking for a program to play a sport, having a purpose and goals will help you to find the right fit for you. Without them, all opportunities will seem right. You have to be able to paint a picture of what purpose and success looks like for you and define how you intend to achieve it before you go after it.
- To achieve success, you’ll need talent for sure but you’ll also need to learn how to learn so that you can further unlock the talent potential. This will allow you to develop competencies that are required in order for you to learn, train and apply in the competitive arena. In other words, you’ll need to be able to turn all of your potential into reality.
- Athletes can no more rely entirely on their physical athletic skills than a business leader can rely entirely on their IQ. They alone will not lead to success. You need to develop emotional and intellectual skills.
- Sports are played as a team. Success will depend on the entire team and your ability to adapt your strengths for the benefit of the team as well as for yourself. You’ll need to comprehend the difference between a group of athletes and a team and how to achieve success as a team.
- As parents and coaches, we influence young developing athletes. We need to also understand the challenges athletes face as they strive for success and how we contribute to their success.
This is a different type of book on sports than what most of you may have read before because it deals very little directly with the physical skills that we associate with playing sports. It has more to do with other key factors to consider and incorporate as you or someone you know prepares for sports training and competition.
Inspiration rarely comes ahead of the effort but rather it comes while you are in the midst of it. If you wait until you feel something you may be waiting a long time.
