“Talent sets the floor, character sets the ceiling.” — Bill Belichick. This quote refers to the fact that your talent is fixed and it will only take you so far. Your character will turbocharge your skills, helping you to reach your full potential.
Three characteristics that I look for in our #yadathletes to help them be their best are:
Resilience: this refers to an athletes ability to bounce back in the face of adversity.
Perseverance: is associated with your love of the process and your ability to work hard on continually mastering specific tasks.
Grit: is defined as the tendency to sustain consistent interest and effort towards long term goals in spite of short term gratification (as said by Angela Duckworth).
These characteristics cannot be developed from extrinsic sources such as coaches, parents or trophies.
Grit, perseverance and resilience are built by:
• taking full ownership for your actions and results
• cutting out excuses
• creating goals
• respecting the process
• building intrinsic motivation to be your best
• setting high standards for your behaviours
Take time to reflect on these characteristics and see how you can apply any of the above to be better. Remember, your character as an athlete is the number one predictor of your success.
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