Redefining the Journey
In our lives we always define our success by reaching a goal. As an athlete and coach my life has been filled with goals for myself and athletes I coach. Throughout these years I have found that we cannot let our journey in any field be defined solely by the current goals we are striving for. Goals are amazing, they drive us to achieve something we want. In sports, I have had many coaches ask the question of, “what do you want to be able to do?” This question tends to spark answers of to go professional or hit a ball forty times in a row. What it sadly doesn’t encompass is the mini goals and dreams. Setting goals of hitting a ball forty times in a row leads to frustration at twenty, when celebration should be taking place. Goals such as these leave us with a heavy weight or need to achieve aspect that we did not originally plan for.
Our journey, which contains these goals will soon become a troublesome, frustrating, and disappointing journey. If every time we achieve a goal, we just set another farther away, we will never have time to celebrate the accomplishment of getting there. I once heard a player say before match, “I just want to have a good match.” He probably thought it was just a normal phrase anyone would say, but it stuck with me. Forget about the goals and remember to enjoy the thing we work so hard to perfect. In sports, athletes spend years developing these skills and will forget to ever enjoy having them. Winning can be the goal, but it should never be the only thing that gives meaning to what we have worked so hard to achieve.
Completing goals are not going to give us lasting enjoyment as we will always set another one. The journey itself is where we find enjoyment. We need to allow ourselves to redefine the journey meaning by realizing that goals are a mere aspect of the journey. Every moment shared with a friend, parent, competitor, or coach is a part of the journey. It is found in the moments of learning something new, working hard, dealing with issues, or simply playing. Redefine the journey and focus on having a good match.
