New Year, Same Purpose
Good Evening,
A while back, Coach Tommy put out a great piece on the importance of improving every day. That idea falls under one of the four pillars that our staff has talked about in terms of what it will take from every person of this team to do for us to become the best team we can be.
All four pillars that SMAC lives by are:
Legacy - Leave it better than you found it
Purpose - Work hard and have fun
Belief in all- Growth mindset/Improve every day
Community - Building pride in site accomplishments, including coach/swimmer relationships
With meets going away for the foreseeable future, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to be present in the moment to continue to improve every day and have a growth mindset. We have to take a step back and remind ourselves what our purpose is.
We may not have a chance to race at KCAC under the bright lights, but that does not mean that we cannot have fun. Take this time to fall back in love with the process of everything instead of just the outcome. This brings me back to one of my favorite quotes:
“The process is testing you as well as teaching you. If you pass the test and learn the lessons, you get to go on to your next process. If you fail a test and quit rather than retake the test, the process spits you out.” -Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad
When you commit to the process — never giving up, creatively overcoming setbacks and obstacles, trying new strategies — a powerful metamorphosis happens. You literally transform in the process. This change is the real value. People who “just want the prize” miss this entirely. They don’t realize how valuable and powerful the transformation is, which is only possible from taking the hard way around and by enjoying it on every occasion.
One way we can focus on our purpose of working hard and having fun is by focusing on what we can Control.
It is crucial to enjoy ourselves and have fun during the hard work now because unfortunately, the work we put in every single day is what we have control over at this point in time. We must continue to focus on what we can control in a world of so many uncontrollable factors. We may not be able to control any restrictions that might affect our training programs, or whether we have meets right now, but we can control our attitude that we bring to the pool deck every day, and the work ethic we put forward every single practice.
Our purpose is more important now than ever. Work hard during the process, but make sure you're having fun as well. Swimming is a very demanding sport, but it makes it way more enjoyable and fun when you embrace the process, everything that comes along with it, and focusing on the factors that we can control.
Go SMAC!
Julian
