The Power of If

'IF' you want to be successful, you have to have a plan, create goals, and then you have to work for your goals.  You have to have an action plan for your goals.  Creating a plan and having goals without action will just lead to disappointment and frustration.

Using the word ‘IF’ when creating goals can create the action for you.  ‘IF’ is the work that is required to achieve your goals.

-  If I want to make varsity, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________.

- If I want to be all-district, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________.

-  If I want to get a college scholarship, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________.

- If I want to become a better coach, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________.

- If I want to create better relationships with my students and/or players, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________.

- If I want to increase my student test scores, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________.

- If I want to move from being a teacher to an administrator, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________.

- If I want to become a transformational leader, I will have to _________________, _________________, and _________________.

On the road to success, there are many roadblocks.  But, many of those roadblocks are in our minds.  They include doubt and fears and limitations that we put on ourselves.  To combat those internal feelings, Jon Gordon says that we should:

"We need to talk to ourselves much more often than we listen to ourselves."

We have to make sure that we have a 'growth mindset' that will help us overcome obstacles, real and mental, and that will help us deal with, learn from, and grow from mistakes.

Kevin Eastman uses these 4 words to combat these roadblocks and to get to greatness:

- Trust

- Belief

- Resolve

- Preparation

I think it all starts with the preparation.  The more prepared that you are going into a situation, the more you can trust yourself, the more you can believe in yourself, and the better prepared you are to bounce back from inevitable setbacks.  Prepare yourself the best you can going in, and you will have a different level of trust and belief in yourself.

We have to trust ourselves and our abilities.  We have what we need within us, we have to create and plan and be willing to work to bring it out of us.  Trust comes in the preparation.  The better prepared you are, the more trust that you can naturally put in yourself.

We have to believe in ourselves and our abilities.  We have it all within us, and you have had success on some level before.  Recall moments where you have had success, and use that success to increase your belief in yourself and your abilities.

Finally, setbacks and failures are just a part of the game and a part of life.  You can't avoid it.  But what you can control is how you bounce back from those setbacks.  Learn from your setbacks, grow from your setbacks, and you will be better because of your setbacks.