You want to be great?
Expect accountability in that pursuit.
Watching the Olympic Trials over this past week and a half was super inspirational for me, but had me thinking about those athletes who made the team for the Tokyo Olympics.
I can promise you that it wasn’t EASY for any of those athletes. I can promise you there were hardships along the way, in fact, in most cases, it’s well reported that some of these athletes who made the team were battling injury, etc. through their build ups to the trials.
I can also promise you that their coaches and teammates held them accountable in their work, in their therapy, and in their mission.
Greatness is a hard and lonely pursuit. It’s so much easier to settle for good. And it’s even easier to settle for mediocrity. But mediocre and good don’t make Olympic teams…greatness does. And with that pursuit comes accountability.
This summer John McDonnell passed away. He’s by far the greatest Cross Country and Track coach to work in the NCAA. He was known as a hard man. Honest. Tough. Relentless. I’ve read his biography several times now (at least four times) and the thing that sticks out to me the most is the accountability that he demands from his staff and his athletes. The result of that…40 NCAA Championships. An 11-year streak of winning the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Five times winning the NCAA triple crown of XC, Indoor, and Outdoor Track.
You want to be great? Expect accountability in that pursuit.
Phillips Running 