Kopion 2016

Hey guys! I hope everything is going well and the workouts are going well! I can honestly say that everyday I am getting more and more excited for the season to start. I have loved catching up with you guys throughout the last couple weeks and hearing that you guys are as excited for this season as I am! I have also loved to read the posts by Garrett and Caleb and think that they explained exactly what we expect to see from everyone coming into pre-season. To go along with those posts I want to talk about one of our foundational principles, defining moments. 

Defining Moments

“As a member of the men’s soccer program, you will be asked to sacrifice your comfort for the benefit of the team. A defining moment is when you come face-to-face with a truth that invites you to change the way you live. It is our goal as a program, that we embrace each of these defining moments. “

When I think about defining moments and reading Visioneering, I believe that with a vision there will be defining moments, there will be times where you want to quit, there will be times where you question what you are doing. I believe that with in order to have a defining moment, you have to have faith. Faith that whatever you are doing is all worth it. Faith that there is a bigger purpose for what you are doing and that because of what you have done to prepare, you can have a defining moment when the opportunity comes. Andy Stanley said it best in Visioneering when he said:

“Pursuing a vision requires faith. Pursuing a great vision requires great faith. Pursuing a vision will test, stretch, and at times exhaust your faith…faithfulness is critical to success.” 

How does this relate to our team? I will tell you. When the spring started we all had a vision that we were going to change the culture and that we were going to rebuild the foundation of this program. That is a great vision. So as the spring came along we started our workouts things were going pretty well, and then came the treadmill workout where we had to run uphill at 15% incline at a 6:00 mille pace. We were all, myself included, dreading every minute leading up to it and wondering why we had to do this insane workout and that we wouldn’t be able to do it. But we had to remind ourselves that we wanted to change the mindset of this program and to do that required great faith that these workouts where going to help see us accomplish our goal. Because of that faith, we rolled up our sleeves and did that treadmill workout. It was like a living hell doing it but that whole time we had faith that what we were doing as a team would help accomplish our vision of changing the program and getting a 5:30 mile. Then when the opportunity came that sunny Saturday morning to prove that all of this work we put in wasn’t for nothing, we took it head on and everyone cleared that 5:30 mile mark, with most of us having room to spare. That day we saw all of our faith and hard work pay off because we knew that we took a step in the right direction with changing the culture. On the field, we reestablished what we wanted to do as a team and what are goals were and how we wanted to play. We had faith in the training that coach gave us and really tried to get better at it. By the end of the spring season, we increased our passing to consistently being over 70% and having a plus minus score consistently over 60%. We reestablished our faith by holding weekly Bible studies that saw us grow as individuals in Christ. 

This pre-season we will have another defining moment of getting the mile in 5:15. Keep this in mind when you are doing all of those hard summer workouts and keep having faith that what you are doing will all be for a greater purpose in the end, which it will! My prayer is that when we come into pre-season we can continue to move forward in the right direction and all be on the same page in with what we want for each other. I pray that when we come into pre-season we can reestablish all of our values and continue to set the standard for everyone. Have faith in what we are trying to do even in the tough times this season because I truly believe that “faithfulness is critical to success” and having faith in the system and all of our teammates will be critical to our success in the coming fall. Love you guys and can’t wait to be with you all again. God Bless!

 Internal vs External Motivation for this season 

I think in the past couple of seasons, we have been an externally motivated team. A large portion of the team that has focused strictly on the external factors which are short term. It is focused on the reward and not the action. Internal is long term. It is focused on the process. We had players who have been selfish and lazy-the reward is no longer available so they have nothing to work for. It has been about "them". I think our disconnect or lack of reverence for our Team Foundational Principles/Core Values makes this apparent. In order for us to be successful, we have to let our internal motivation to be primary driver.

Now, let's use one of our preseason goals for our team averaging a 5:15 mile as an example. What if you don't make it? Should you be punished? What if the team does not average a 5:15 mile? Should the team be punished? What happens if a player does not do his job or do the work necessary to contribute to achieving a team goal? The whole team suffers. This idea that you have let down your team (internal) should be your motivation and not the punishment (or lack of). You suffer your own disappointment and that of your teammates and coaches and know that in this particular case, you let the team down, and had to be picked up by others. This should serve as your motivation that you have to somehow find a way to make up for letting your teammates down. You have to be internally motivated to look for opportunities to do that as much as possible for the rest of the season and hopefully for your 4 years at Cornerstone.

Here is a quote from Tim Grover's book (Michael Jordan, Dwayne Wade, and Kobe's trainer), Relentless-From Good to Great to Unstoppable

"Excellence isn't only about hitting the gym and working up a sweat; that's the smallest part of what you have to do. Physical ability can only take you so far.

The fact is, you can't train your body-or excel at anything-before you train your mind. You can't commit to excellence until your mind is ready to take you there. Teach the mind to train the body.

Physical dominance can make you great. Mental dominance is what makes you unstoppable. 

You will never have a more powerful training tool than this: get your mind strong, so your body can follow. The true measure of an individual is determined by what you can't measure-the intangibles. Anyone can measure weight, height, speed, physical strength...but you can't measure commitment, persistence, or the instinctive power of the muscle in your chest, your heart. That's where true work begins: understanding what you want to achieve and knowing what you are willing to endure to get it."