I have been involved in sports all my life. First there was little league baseball, followed by soccer, then basketball, then, finally, swimming. Each of them I loved to participate in, each of them I had my good moments and my bad moments, and as a young man I often envisioned, dreamt, whatever you want to call it, about playing in the pros. Dancing in my head was visions of being the next Bob Gibson, the next Larry Bird, or the next Michael Spitz.If you don’t know who any of these people are let me put it in more recent terms, these are the Max Scherzer (MLB), Luca Doncic (NBA), and Caleb Dressell (Olympic Swimming) of our day. Just as every boy does, I went into my backyard and threw pitches to my younger brother trying to imitate Bob Gibson’s mannerisms, his curveball, or his fast ball. Just for note, my fastball was not very fast, my curveball was really straight, and I did not have any formal training of the technique to throw those pitches. Fast forward to when I was in High School and on the school swim team, I had goals. I wanted to be the best swimmer on the team, I wanted to win all my races, and I wanted to go to the state swim meet, and win, and the loftiest goal of all? I wanted to be an Olympic gold medalist. No, not just an Olympian, that would never be adequate, I had to win gold. I never realized any of those goals. Well, I did accomplish one, sort of, I did go to the state swim meet, as a spectator. These goals were things I would tell everyone. “I have a goal to swim in the Olympics,” I would say. There were two main factors that went into why I did not reach these lofty goals. I could swim really well, and I had talent in that area, but I didn’t realize the limits of my talent, I also didn’t understand my potential. That’s problem number one. Problem number two is I did not understand what would be required to achieve those goals, and so I continued to just dream.
Problem number one: Understanding and realizing the limits of your talent, and understanding your potential.
Everyone of us has talent in something. One of my talent’s was always love of sport and physical activity. I had limits in that, things I couldn’t do yet, not at that moment anyway. Think of the limits you might face as a puzzle to solve. If I know and understand what I am trying to accomplish or what this puzzle is supposed to look like at the end then it makes it easier for me to solve the puzzle. If you are a basketball player and you have a goal to dunk a basketball, measure what you can do now, and then go to work learning what you need to do to reach that goal. If you are a soccer player and your goal is to lead the league in goals, what is required to reach that goal? What did last season's scoring leader do? What made him so good? I’m sure he did not just roll out of bed and become that good that day. Ask other top scorers what they do to be so efficient. Perhaps one of your limits is you play mainly on the back line. Usually defensive players will not lead their league in scoring. Is this currently your best position, the one that is suited for you the most. If so, What does the coach look for in a forward or attacker? Perhaps you really like playing defense and don’t want to change positions, then perhaps a change of goal is necessary, perhaps being the best “lockdown” defender you can be.
Problem number 2: Understanding the necessary requirements to achieve your goals.
Now that you are looking at road blocks and limitations to meeting your goals comes the task of moving those barriers. Let’s say you are a baseball player and want to be the number one starting pitcher on your team, you want to have the lowest ERA (Earned Run Average) in the league, and you want to set a record for the number of strikeouts in a season. Your last season pitching you were a starter and played well. What is it that you need to do to improve upon those numbers? Think of those who have been there before, who have achieved their goals before. What made them so good? What feedback have you received from your coach? Maybe your coach told you that you need to work on the velocity of your fastball, and develop a curveball, or a slider, maybe a little offspeed pitch to work into your arsenal. Well, once you know things you can work on, now what do you do? Get to work. Do you want to work on increasing velocity on your pitches? What is the baseline? How fast do you pitch already? If you know that you go from there. Have your coach or someone analyze the mechanics of your pitch. Find adjustments that you can make. Perhaps strengthening the proper muscles would be the first step. You can strengthen your shoulder, back, arm, leg, and core muscles. All of these will be needed in increasing velocity. Narrow it down to the very tiniest, most microscopic element to work on, and go to work. Most importantly, know what your end goal is, but let these other steps be your everyday focus.
The skills you will learn along the way will affect each moment of each day. They will be life changing. There is nothing wrong with goals and dreams. They are the foundation of moving forward and improving ourselves and those around us. This is true in whatever you do in your life. It doesn’t have to be sport. It can be with your family, with your job, in school, or in your relationships. Remember to know and understand your limitations as well as your potential, and gain an understanding of what is required to move forward and realize those goals and dreams.
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