@PTWood posted:I think what @Francis7 was getting at is that if you are OK with change and have a high tolerance for risk, then you might go for your athletic "reach" school even if you know they have high attrition or that you will be in a fight for your life to play. If you have a low tolerance for risk and do not like change, you might chose a "safety" school...much like people do academically. Being able to determine which is which required some honesty, self-reflection and possibly some tough love support from outside.
I think what is really hard (and happens a lot) is when people either think they are at their safety school or at least in their sweet spot and things still don't work out.
Anyone who goes in thinking, “If it doesn’t work out ....” already has one foot out the door and likely won’t last. Once the decision is made the player has to be all in mentally. Everyone knows there are fixes if the situation doesn’t work. But they can’t be on the mind until the player understands it’s not working where he is.
When you lose you figure out how to get back on track and win. I don’t know any successful people who ever went into a situation with the attitude, “If I lose .... If I don’t belong .... If I fail ....”