0
0
Very few people anywhere in this world have excelled at what they do better than Nick Saban, the former Alabama football coach. Incredibly disciplined, and like so many super high achievers, he outworked pretty much everybody.
He’s a wise man. He knows what it takes to be great and excels at articulating what that is. Rare indeed for a football coach to speak with such conviction and insight about not just football but the realities of life.
Saban talks a lot about human nature. He says people by nature just want to survive, to get by. They’re generally not inclined to want to work hard to be above average or great.
And it’s not their fault. It’s how we’re all born. To get by.
So to work hard at something is unnatural. We have to shake ourselves free from the shackles of complacency. To be great you have to do things you don’t want to do constantly, when you’re tired, when you don’t see the immediate benefits, when it doesn’t seem to make any difference.
I feel this way right now. I want to go home and lie on my couch and watch TV. I don’t want to think. I don’t want to create. I just want to stop doing this.
But I know Saban would tell me if I want to get better at this there’s only one way to get there – through practice – even when I don’t want to, especially then, especially now.
Saban also talks all the time about focusing on the process not the outcome. If all you’re thinking about is winning, you’re going to mess up during the process.
I am thinking about all this as the Wake Forest football team nears its fifth game of the season this weekend over there in Raleigh against NC State. It would be natural for them to feel sorry for themselves for losing two of three games already this season at the last minute.
It would be instinctive to lighten up on their effort because they’re now vying for a second-tier post-season bowl birth at best. That may not be too enticing to get them lifting more weights this week during practice, running sprints faster making their chest burn, and studying game film of State assiduously.
All I want and hope is they’re not backing off in practice this week, steadfast in their commitment to excel with the process, and this discipline will extend beyond what their human nature is during the NC State game. I want them thinking about Saban’s wise words, that to excel you have to do things you don’t want to do, things that hurt and aren’t enjoyable.
I hope they go into the game this weekend thinking about one thing: giving maximum effort with their hearts fully invested in playing the best game of football of their entire lives without concerning themselves whatsoever with the outcome. I want them thinking it’s the last time they’ll ever play a football game and that they don’t want to walk off that field on Saturday afterward ashamed they didn’t give all they had.
Against Louisiana, Wake’s football players left their souls on the field. There was nothing more they could have done. I felt proud to be a graduate of Wake Forest because of the way they ferociously gave of themselves in that game.
Keep doing that, fellas. Strive to be better than average. Don’t settle for what’s human nature, what most other people get comfortable with.
Elevate above that.
And I will be your biggest fan.
Author Profile
-
Sammy Sportface, a sports blogger, galvanizes, inspires, and amuses The Baby Boomer Brotherhood. And you can learn about his vision and join this group's Facebook page here:
Sammy Sportface Has a Vision -- Check It Out
Sammy Sportface -- The Baby Boomer Brotherhood Blog -- Facebook Page
