Even though I've been coaching youth sports for a long while I am not clairvoyant and don't claim to have a crystal ball. However, when it comes to predicting the absolute level of game day success any athlete will have I'm pretty confident I could do so blindfolded!
Yes...if I have just a handful of facts and a brief conversation with your athlete, without ever watching him or her play, I could tell you how good a player they are and will become with pinpoint accuracy.
How can I do that? Let me explain my magic.
As in life sports success is predictable based on a number of key factors, the most important of which is the Law of Cause and Effect Law of Cause and Effect; that every action empirically causes a specific and measurable reaction. Author Tony Robbins describes the process like this:
". . . the most powerful way to shape our lives is to get ourselves to take action. The difference in the results that people produce comes down to what they’ve done differently from others in the same situations. Different actions produce different results. Why? Because any action is a set cause in motion, and its effect builds on past effects to move us in a definite direction. Every direction leads to an ultimate destination: our destiny."
Yes, I too had to read that passage a couple of times to really understand what Robbins was trying to say. After I figured it out it seems perfectly applicable to any athlete's sports "destiny."
One's destiny, in essence, is always shaped by choice choice; a choice of effort, a choice of attitude, a choice of preparation; a choice of purpose. And, thus, these different choices become the primal cause that shapes the ultimate levels of success and performance one athlete achieves versus another athlete.
Show me an elite athlete all the college and pro coaches/scouts are drooling over and more often than not that athlete became elite as a result of the decisions, the actions, and the choices she/he has made for years.
As I often say, success simply is not an accident. An athlete succeeds by design. And a well designed and well executed plan will, as Robbins says, set in motion causes which will produce predictable effects, or results.
Here is an even more startling fact about athletic performance; right decisions, actions and choices made over time will absolutely accelerate any athlete's success because these actions become cumulative in nature. They truly build upon one another and, in fact, become habits that are the true predictors of consistent game day success.
And, perhaps, the biggest "cause and effect" benefit to your athlete approaching his/her success by design is that their self-confidence will skyrocket over time as they see their decisions, actions and choices pay off on the field.
Here are five surefire "predictors" of your athlete's level of sports success: Here are five surefire "predictors" of your athlete's level of sports success:
1. Does she/he have clearly defined goals? 1. Does she/he have clearly defined goals? In other words, why do they play the game? If they can develop and be motivated by the "why" they play, keeping the end goal(s) in mind, he/she will have the right foundation and focus to accelerate their success.
2. How bad does he/she want success? 2. How bad does he/she want success? This is the most powerful "cause" there is in predicting any athlete's success. It defines the intensity of purpose and effort an athlete is willing to expend to achieve their goals. In other words, what are they willing to do to succeed? Is she/he driven to be good or be great?
3. How well does she/he prepare? 3. How well does she/he prepare? Greatness is built by the sum total of small efforts repeated daily. Is your athlete willing to work on their strength, their quickness, their game or position skills...their mental game for just 30 minutes each day to become the best player they can be? This is the "cumulative cause and effect" I talked about earlier. Is he/she doing ALL they can to get better, to master a difficult game....do they take massive action?
4. Does he/she enjoy the game? 4. Does he/she enjoy the game? Ultimately for your athlete to reach her/his fullest sports potential they must enjoy the game enough to put in the consistent time and effort to achieve greatness. Remember what Tony Robbins said: "The difference in the results that people produce comes down to what they’ve done differently from others in the same situations." For your athlete to stand out from the crowd they need to have passion and joy for the game...a pep in their step that others notice.
5. Does she/he expect success? 5. Does she/he expect success? Here is the mental ignition that can absolutely propel or limit your athlete's game day success level. Having the expectancy for success allows an athlete to bounce back from mistakes or bad games because he/she knows that they have done all the right things with their decisions, actions and choices and, thus, deserve success.
In the final analysis you don't need to be a fortune teller to predict your athlete's game day success level. It is the sum total of his/her actions that will define their greatness or lack thereof. It's simply the Law of Cause and Effect in action.
Thanks for reading! --John Michael Kelly Thanks for reading! --John Michael Kelly
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