Trust the Process

Eddie Umphrey also likes to use that phrase.  (He and Justin are buds).

Swing Blog has Justin Laury as guest blogger today.  Here's an excerpt:

1. TRUST THE PROCESS!
Like in life, gymnastics is a process. This is a lesson I learned during the latter part of my career, while training at Houston Gymnastics Academy, under the guidance and coaching of Kevin Mazeika. Everything we do has a process. It’s during the process that we are shaped and developed into the individual we are striving to become. I’m soliloquizing here, but often times as coaches and athletes we encounter unnecessary frustration and stress when we expect immediate results. Success takes time, often times years upon years! It’s a process!

2. 100% RESPONSIBILITY
Another lesson I learned, and now stress to our athletes, is that if you want to achieve something in life, the only person responsible for that is you. This was very foreign to me earlier in my career, but I later adopted this principle and now encourage and challenge our athletes to do the same. I think this is one of the most empowering philosophical ideologies because it reveals where the true power of success lies. When the athlete learns how to line up their thoughts, words, choices, and actions with what they truly want, coaching becomes more of directing and less of dictating.
3. NEVER GIVE UP…NEVER!

For young athletes this can be a hard lesson to learn because they are, by nature, accustomed to doing things that feel good. They often times haven’t yet developed the resiliency and toughness or even the understanding that doing things that are hard is a crucial part of the process. This however, is very important because it teaches commitment, integrity, and self value. It may be hard, it may not come easy, but I will not give up. It’s just where I am in the process. We like to encourage our kids to think this way! If it’s easy, it’s not worth it.

Read the rest.