Vision Needed for Success

I am convinced that every athlete in every sport needs to have the ability to dream about the future and needs to have "vision" of their success. On those hot, sweaty July days, athletes need to be driven with vision of their potential success.



When the cross country runner is out on the road in July running/training, their thoughts can not be on that moment. If the runner in July, while they train, is thinking about how hot it is, how steep the hill is, and how many miles they have to go-- it is unlikely they will have a good training run. But if while they are running in July, they are dreaming about races in October and November, they will be successful. The runner needs to imagine and have a vision of that race in the fall. And it may be if their vision is intense, they may even produce some extra adrenaline to make that training run even better. And that "crazy" runner may even see themselves going to state or going to the Olympics.

The football player in the weight room in the summer needs to have their mind drift from that moment to dream about a Friday night under the lights.

How often do we hear the same thing from successful basketball players? There are numerous stories about players who win a state title or national title, tell about dreaming about doing it in their driveway when they were training. When they are in the summer shooting in the gym, they are not thinking about that moment-- they are thinking about and imagining playing in the "big game."