The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most online retailers! Click Here to Order
In athletic competition, accountability is two-fold. It’s not only what we choose to do but what we choose not to do.
Coaching an athlete isn’t only about teaching the techniques of the sport. It also involves motivating athletes to drop their “conditions.” These are their creative excuses for not training the way they should be training. It’s their escape mechanism. Competitors of all ages use the excuse of injury, time restraints or simple arrogance for not training properly. It’s their way of liberating themselves from responsibilities.
In our continuing observational study, I asked Evan and Jarrod about some of the creative excuses they’ve used for not training properly. Here’s what they came up with:
- “I would go for my run today but it’s raining outside.”
- “I would train but my friends are coming over tonight.”
- “I can’t work out before school because there’s no time.”
Another common creative excuse is blaming others. Here’s what the twins have to say about the blame game:
- “My teacher gave me too much homework this week and so I can’t train today.”
- “It’s not my fault I can’t train, my trainer worked me too hard and now I’m injured.”
- “I can’t play points again today after practice because I’m hanging out with my friends.”
Stop Defending Old Bad Habits
When athletes stop avoiding the work and begin to rise to the occasion an emotional break through takes place and confidence is born. Daily accountability separates the dreamers from the doers. I’ve found that some athletes have to be trained to stop defending their old comfortable bad habits. If they’re still defending them, they have no motivation to quit them. It takes honesty and courage to walk away from self-destructive, unproductive behavior. What is stopping most of us from incredible success is the unwillingness to drop the old, bad habits.
