The five controllables we covered recently. By way of reminder, they are effort, rest, recovery, nutrition, and mindset. Effort and mindset are the bookends. All five matter greatly. Fact.
The five pillars (slightly modified by me from James Galanis recipe for Carli Lloyd), if you want to be a world class athlete, offer further clarity. Remember, you cannot be too clear. Clarity is the obsession of those chasing excellence. To become an elite athlete you have to build these five with heart filled passion and purpose. This I believe.
Technical skill.
Tactical awareness.
Physical power/strength/endurance.
Mental toughness.
Character.
None of these pillars are easily built. They are under construction. Never complete. The hardest of these? Building character. Your character is who you are when no one sees. You must become your harshest critic while giving yourself grace. Hard on self, not down on self. Hard on self, not high on self. Simple, not easy.
You must look in the mirror (own your shit) and stop looking out the window (blaming others for your stuff). You must know who you are, become comfortable in your own skin, and fight the natural tendency to slowly become complacent. You must embrace the challenge zone and push up against the panic zone without losing your shit. You must keep reaching, failing, learning, and levelingthehellup slowly. The higher you rise, the longer the plateaus. You must marry the mundane.
You must surround yourself with truth tellers who want the best for you but won’t baby you. Life is hard. Chasing excellence unrelenting. The ball doesn’t care what else you have going on. The competition studies your tendencies and weaknesses. Eventually they’ll exploit them if you don’t build them stronger (mostly in solitary, hardASS reps). The five pillars are nonnegotiable. You cannot pick and choose. You must build them all. Fact.
Slow down. Reflect. Write. Where, friend, are you cutting corners? When are you going to get serious and stop bullshitting yourself, much less others? When was the last time you emptied the tank? Who makes you do what you can? What chosen suffering are you habitually choosing? Remember, you choose, your choices have consequences. Your five pillars are never complete. Good is the f&*$ing enemy of great. Keep working. Damn.
Live hard. Love ❤️ harder…
BUILT TO LEAD 