(NOTE: Today is the kickoff of a new swim season for the team I coach, so I decided to repost this blog from June 2011. It’s something I wrote for the team concerning the key to success. I hope it inspires and encourages you today!)
The Bullhorn of Your Actions — The #1 Key To Success
I think the following phrase might be the #1 key to success in the most important roles of our lives…What we believe in is evidenced by how we live, not just by what we say.
Did you catch that?
What we believe in is evidenced by how we LIVE, not just by what we say.
As many of you know, I coach a summer swim team. It’s very different than the other sports I’ve coached over the years. For one, the team is larger (last year we have 155 swimmers ages 4-18 years old / this year we are closer to 180). Two, we have practice practically every weekday morning from 8-11 AM. Three, our swim meets are 6-7 hour events…warm-ups start around 5 PM and most meets finish sometime around 11 PM (give or take an hour). Finally, the behind-the-scenes work coaches have to do (i.e. the paperwork of seeding a meet), along with all the behind-the-scenes work that volunteers have to do is enormous. As I often say, the people who run a swim meet effectively could probably run any major organization or endeavor.
All and all, coaching swimming is a huge investment of time, energy, and focus. At the same time, the return on that investment is just as enormous. The opportunities to teach life lessons to swimmers (and LEARN them myself) are abundant, and I’d love to share one of the lessons I’ve taught (and learned) during the past few weeks.
Recently, I challenged several swimmers with the question: “What is TRUE sportsmanship?” In each case, my goal was to help swimmers realize that true sportsmanship is a key to success in life and sports. Additionally, I wanted swimmers to realize that true sportsmanship is shown more by making wise choices and taking the right actions than by shaking hands and saying “nice swim” at the end of the race….because words, without proper actions, are empty.
What’s more, I’ve had the opportunity to communicate with swimmers and the parents of swimmers on our team that showing TRUE sportsmanship means:
- Listening to and respectfully following through with the requests made by coaches.
- Encouraging and building up other swimmers, especially swimmers on our team, and not tearing them down.
- Knowing what events you are swimming and not wandering off before those events causing staging people and teammates to search high and low for you.
- Taking 100 percent responsibility for your attitude, actions, articulation, and associations…and not making excuses when a mistake is made in these areas.
- Swimming your best both in technique and speed (i.e. “leaving it all in the pool”) no matter what place you come in or what place your relay team comes in.
The reality is we are at that point in the season where real “swim it forward” and “live it forward” life lessons can be taught and caught, and each of the above examples actually happened during the past few weeks. What’s more, each situation gave me the opportunity to talk to individuals about TRUE sportsmanship and about the true keys to success in sports and life.
Parents of Stingrays swimmers (as well as any other parents reading this blog), may I encourage you to have similar conversations with your children? I have three teenage swimmers in my family and wow, does our swim team give me a great opportunity to teach significant “live it forward” life lessons to each of them. So, let’s all be intentional and take advantage of every opportunity given to us to teach our kids how to live it forward in the most important roles of life. Again, this is probably the #1 key to success in all the major roles we play in life.
And by the way, I am proudest of our team when a swimmer or a relay team is in last place and team members are still cheering and encouraging their teammates to “leave it all in the pool.” Swimming your hardest when the race is close is easy. Swimming your hardest when you or your team has been lapped is much more difficult. It takes character and confidence to continue to swim your guts out…and personally, nothing makes me prouder!
Stingrays…I was VERY proud of our team this past Thursday night. Very proud!!
(Pictures provided by Kerry Kruegler)
NOTE: One of the reasons I continue to coach swimming is because as a professional speaker who speaks to middle school and high school students all across the nation, as well as educators and youth workers who serve middle school and high school students, staying involved in the real lives of young people and their families is critical to remaining relevant as a communicator.
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