Five Ways We Can Teach the Process Over Outcome

"It's all about the journey, not the outcome." -Carl Lewis.

We all have heard the saying, "trust the process."

But, there is a difference between knowing we need to trust the process and genuinely believing in the process.

Many young athletes struggle with the process even more than us.

Again, I come back to social media because of the instant information we all now have access to.

Young athletes constantly look at professional players' highlights and want to jump straight to the pros.

I'll admit, that is totally me as well. I want to jump to 1,000 podcast listeners and 1,000 Youtube subscribers, & turn Bridging Impact Basketball into my full-time income.

All of those goals of mine will come true, but not today.

So, what is one of the best ways to learn something?

Teach it.

Five Ways We Can Teach the Process

We will use becoming a great shooter in basketball as our example this week.

1. Model the Process: The best way to teach a life skill is to model. Show player's what it truly is like to practice a craft day in and day out. Show them what a great shooting workout looks like. Ask what their daily process looks like now? What should their process look like if they have high aspirations? What do you do during a slump? Stop shooting? NO! Remind them that they will become a better shooter if they continually work on their shot.

2. Share Stories: One of the best ways to connect with young athletes is by sharing experiences through stories. Athletes will connect to the message, whether the story is yours, a teammate's, or a professional player's story. Talk about the number of hours Steph Curry has put into his craft of becoming a great shooter.

3. Track Progress: Tracking progress is a great way to determine if the athlete is improving or not. This weekend I had the opportunity to learn that the best shooters track all the shots they take and make. Then they evaluate over time, like a month or so, to see if they are continually improving.

4. Relatable Content: This idea is similar to #2, but I believe one of the best ways to connect with young athletes is to share videos with them. This week I shared a video of Giannis talking about being in the NBA more than skill. Videos of their favorite athletes talking and sharing stories are a powerful way to relate the message to them.

5. Reflect: Have them reflect back to the season's beginning or the previous year. What skills have they made an improvement on? What skills are still similar? Has their confidence grown? What are they proud of in the past year?

What are other ways we can teach our athletes to trust the process?

DM me on any platform or respond to this email & let's have a conversation about teaching the process to our athletes!