Accountability

“Always be yourself. Unless you suck!”
I wrote an article a few years ago talking about D.I.G., Desire to be your best, Industrious work habits and Grit.  It was a good article that seemed to spark some of you to get moving on your goals.  I felt good about it too! That was the intent. I wanted you to know that you have coaches in your corner to help push you to be your best!  Good intentions for sure, but I have failed you!  I admit that since then I have not held you accountable to your goals and dreams! That’s right. I said it and it makes me angry!  Now, the golf season is right around the corner (go away Coronavirus!) and more than likely you are not going to reach your best and you have me/GPC to blame!
Recently during a staff meeting I posed the following question – how can we do better at helping our golf athletes improve and get better results?  We like to ask the hard questions too!  To my surprise we came up with two answers – execution and accountability.  That’s right!  I/we are not holding you accountable to your desires to be your best and you are not holding me accountable either!  I can do better at making it a culture of accountability for you.  I have let you slide on getting your practice sheets done. I allowed you to slack on pushing yourself to get the most out of your workouts. I have allowed you to think doing okay practice is good enough. I have allowed excuses, like not having enough time or I have something to do with friends, to get in your way. MY FAULT!  It won’t happen again!!!
To steal a few lines from Michael Jordan, “Maybe it’s my fault to lead you to believe that it was easy, that my talent came naturally, that my success didn’t come from pushing myself to be my best every second of the day, that it didn’t come from all the hard work in the gym, that it didn’t come from failing time after time, that every ounce of energy I had was used to be my best, to prove to myself that no one would out work me, no one would push harder longer than I did.  You see, my dream was to be the best basketball player ever!  I realized when I didn’t make my high school team as a junior, dreams are great but without the substance of hard work, it is merely hope, hoping that somehow dreams will come true, dreams only come true if you do something about them.  I was fortunate to have a coach that believed enough in me to cut me from the team.  It forced me to realize that the only way that I was going to be the best basketball player ever was to work harder than ever, to out work everyone in the world!  No one needed to watch me practice, no one had to make me practice, I held myself accountable to my dream, I was not going to let myself down.  So, when you tell people you didn’t reach your goal or goals, who are you blaming?   If you are not working harder than everyone around you, maybe you are just making excuses!”
There is no room for being okay with being okay. There is no room for excuses!  Arguably the best coach ever, John Wooden, would let players know that their efforts weren’t good enough by telling them to “hit the showers.”  It didn’t take long for the most talented basketball athletes in college to understand that talent is only part of the success equation.  Little did they know that the small things that create success come from being accountable for doing the little things every time at 100%, no excuses!  Similarly, your dentist has probably told you that it does no good to brush your teeth 2 hours one day a year, but if you brush them 2 minutes every day, you will have healthier smile!
In conclusion, I just “hit the showers,” no excuses. I failed to hold myself accountable for not being the best coach I can be!  I look forward to the challenge of holding myself to a higher standard than “okay” or good enough!  I challenge you to hold yourself to a higher standard than OKAY or GOOD ENOUGH!  Be ACCOUNTABLE to yourself. It will help you achieve your greatness on and off the course!
 
Enjoy Your Journey!