Teaching Athletes the Lesson of the Promise and the Prize
The lesson of the promise and the prize is a lesson in commitment to success. This commitment starts with a promise to take action, and ends with fulfilling that promise with a prize of success.
What athletes must learn about the promise and the prize is to control the controllables and not to worry about the uncontrollables. Correspondingly, the promise is the controllable and the prize is the uncontrollable.
Too often, the mistake athletes make is to focus on the prize when they should be focusing on the promise. The best way to help athletes avoid this mistake is to break the promise into daily goals.
Daily goals enforce patience and consistency by facilitating daily action and daily wins. Daily wins drive motivation and motivation keeps athletes pushing towards more goals. As a result, the prize becomes a by-product of the promise instead of the purpose of the promise. Ultimately, this mindset helps an athlete enjoy the journey and find happiness in everything they do to prepare to compete.