Create The Athlete You Want To Become
When you think of a professional athlete, what comes to mind? Obviously, the physical traits… strong, fast, powerful, etc etc. Beyond that, what do you think about? Personally, the word that comes to my mind is discipline. To maintain the physical shape they are in, to practice hours and hours on end the same drills, so they can execute them to perfection when the pressure is on… This all takes extreme discipline.
Now often, young athletes start playing sports and think they want to become professional athletes. They look at the lifestyle, look at the money, the fame, the attention and think “man, I want some of that too.” What they are not seeing is the thousands of hours behind the scenes. The early mornings, the late nights, the repetition, the practice, the dedication… the obsession.
There are so many obstacles along the way of competing at the top level. The dedication to get there and sustain a long career is incredible. Now the question becomes… are you willing to do it?
If you are willing to do it, the BEST sure fire way to give yourself a chance is to become that professional athlete right now. No… obviously I do not mean go play for a professional team right now because yes… I know that’s not how it works. What I mean, is treat your sport right now like a job. Focus on being at your best, starting today. Not tomorrow, not next season when it “really matters”, right now.
You might be thinking “I see stories all the time of professional athletes out partying, not being dedicated, etc. etc.” and you might be right. However, I’ll challenge that with a question. What is going to help your dream of a career in professional sports more?
- Being out partying, drinking, not sleeping enough, etc. Or…
- Staying in, getting a good night sleep, and getting up the next morning on time for training?
If you answered 1…. We need to have an entirely different conversation. I am not telling you NEVER to go out and have fun. We all need that. Being able to shut down every so often is great to de-stress and recover. However, understand that the more you can put into your sport and your training, the better chance you are giving yourself to make it your career.
If you can create that professional athlete within yourself right now, you are literally putting yourself years ahead of most of your competition.
Don’t know where to start? No problem, start REALLY basic. Take proper care of your health.
- Sleep 7+ hours per night (recommendations vary slightly depending on age)
- Eat 8-10 servings of fruit & vegetables per day
- Start strength training 2-3 days per week.
These recommendations are extremely basic places to start, but the number one takeaway from this post is that the time to start is now. Professional athletes live a 1% lifestyle. If you want to live a 1% lifestyle, you need to put the work into it that 99% aren’t willing to. It is doable, but there is no time to waste. Start making the changes you need to make, start taking steps towards that goal, start living like the athlete you want to become RIGHT NOW.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read my blog. If you have any thoughts, any takeaways, anything you think I may have missed please shoot me an e-mail at kenny@coachdusseault.com or send me a message here. Let’s discuss! I am always in it to learn and hear new perspectives!