Thursday, October 24, 2013

A Goal Mentality





Last week I discussed the odds of high school students getting into the NBA, so this week I thought I would follow it up by discussing how we can help student athletes find their innate talents and create goals to beat the NBA odds.  We have seen great athletes excel on the court with little guidance because they have a deep desire to be the best they can be without anyone pressuring them.  Being the best on the court is not enough in today’s society, we need to instill in our kids that they are more than an athlete.  We need to help them create a healthy mentality that will last a life.  As parents, mentors, coaches, family members and teachers we must help them develop a goal oriented multi-talented mindset… make them believe that they can do anything they set their minds to with hard work, perseverance and a plan.

5 steps that will help our youth develop a goal centered healthy mentality:

1. Discover Talents – All of our children are talented!  Often athletic skills are revealed at an early age without any work, however some of their other gifts may need a little nudge to be exposed.  Talents are usually discover via trial/error in school, extracurricular activities and most importantly being attentive to our children’s likes and dislikes. When a child finds something they are good at and passionate about it is our duty to help them nurture these talents.  Remember their gift(s) could be the catalyst to build a legacy that is even bigger than their basketball career.

 2. Define Goals – After we have unearthed the hidden talents of our kids it is time to develop them.  What better way to do that then creating measurable goals that will give them an incentive to be the best.  A great idea is to work with them on creating a vision board that will highlight their goals.  Showcase the vision board in a place that they can refer to often and see if they have met any of their goals.  Over time they will have to redefine these goals, because a goal chosen at age 10 may change at age 20 or age 30.  If your child is not a visual person or opposed to a vision board they can also create a list of goals and hang them up instead.  The point of the exercise is to develop a conversation about goals and  create a plan for the future that is fun and productive.

3. Write a Plan – If athletes do not plan and have laser focus, they will fall short of their goals, so it is important to sit down and design a work-in-progress plan or a timeline.  Like the goals discussed above a plan will give them an outline for the future.  It is really important that this plan is attainable to build their confidence in achieving their goals.  It is also essential that these plans take into consideration that they are kids and they need to enjoy their childhood before it is gone.  A plan could consist of fun and educating camps they can attend to cultivate their talent, classes to expand their gift, talking to successful people in that field or joining organizations to help them network with other kids like themselves.

4. Athletic college scholarship are tickets to achieving your goals - Although these scholarships are a passport into a great school to play basketball, students need to take their education seriously, so they can be learn the skills needed to bring their goals to reality.  Getting a degree in a field that you demonstrate talents in, will help you develop a career if their basketball goal is finished after collage or shortly after you enter the NBA.  College is also a great place to network with non-athletes that are working in the field that they are interested in, because they may be the needed career catalyst later on in life.

5. Give back – Everyone has a purpose in life, but one key element of that purpose is to give back to your community.  We need to teach our kids from an early age to always leave their community better than when they arrived.  It is amazing the lessons learned from giving to others in need.  Giving will also develop a purposeful mindset that will aid in them considering how to serve others and especially how they can use their gifts to benefit the lives of others.

God Bless
A. Mayartis J.


No comments:

Post a Comment