Expectations will lead to success

I have had the privilege over the past five years to coach many kids in the sport of diving. I grew up in the sport and had enough success to help me pay for college through a diving scholarship. Yes, I know that some of you who have wondered who I am will figure it out after reading this post. That’s ok with me. Maybe someone will read this and find a more positive view on their situation and lead them to greater successes in life. Or maybe everyone will read this and think, what a moron!

I coach in a club that is one of the top three clubs in the country. We have 19 locations and over 200 athletes participating at any given time. I tell you this only to give background on what we do and how we do it. Each location is its own entity under the banner of the collective club. Each coach is offered the same resources and they can do with them what they want.

Over the course of the past few years, I have become know in the coaching ranks as the person who can get any of the kids to do almost anything. When a diver is struggling to learn a new dive, I get a call and they come in for a visit with their coach. I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to help out every high school program within the local area and many across the state. The question I get most often after successfully helping a diver through a new dive is “how did you get them to do that?”

I truly believe everyone is capable of anything; they just have to want to accomplish what they say they want to accomplish. Saying you want to do something is far different then truly wanting to do it. When an athlete walks onto my pool deck, I expect them to be great. I see every one of them as future Olympic Champions and nothing less. Now I know that not every athlete is going to win the Olympic Games, in fact very few are ever going to experience them. But that is no reason not to expect it. When you expect it and believe it is possible, you will get the results.

Good is the enemy of Great. When we settle for good enough it never really is and we are failing based on what we could be accomplishing. This past weekend I was privileged to participate with one of my divers in a meet with some of the best talent in the state. The expectation was not to win the meet, but rather to perform better than she ever had before. True winning is not who is first in the standings, but rather being better than you ever have in the past and not as good as you will be in the future.

I watched each and every dive she preformed, not through the eyes of someone wanting her to win the meet, but through the eyes of someone who expects her to be perfect. Winning the meet was never the goal, it was the expectation. Perfection was the goal. Her dives were better than good, but none were great. None were perfect. Therefore they were not good enough. Am I too hard on her or any of the divers I am privileged to coach? Some think I am, I hear it all the time. The perception of those on the outside looking in means very little to me. What is important is what do the kids think, are they having fun, do they want to be part of this. The answer is yes far more often than not.

So what about that child who has little or no athletic ability? How are things different for them? Should I expect less of them then perfection? I think not. I have a young diver who came to my program as an academic all star. They were timid, very introverted, never said what was on their mind. They joined because a friend wanted to and I was not sure where this one would end up.  Not long after they became part of our team we had an intra squad meet that I was unable to attend. She chose not to go to the meet and her reason was very interesting. She said she didn’t want to go because she would have to do some things she didn’t want to do and “coach” was the only one who could get her to do what she knew she could do but was afraid to try. She is a perfect example of a champion. She is doing lots of things she didn’t believe she could do, she is outspoken now, far more confident, and is having loads of fun.  She is where she is because I expected that of her and she was not going to fail.

On the other end of the spectrum I see kids all the time who could be great divers. They have the skills, the strength, and the knowledge to be great. Yet they settle for good. They settle for good because at some point in their life or career people around them allowed their expectations to drop. Good was good enough. 

Never settle for something less than a little more than you want. Always shot for the moon, if you miss you will land among the stars. Expect greatness and greatness will come. If we expect mediocrity, then we shouldn’t complain when we achieve it.