5 Signs You Are Growing As An Athlete

Have you ever wondered if YOU are growing as an Athlete?

One simple question I used to ask Athletes was: “Are you better now than you were last year?”

If the answer was anything but a confident “YES”, I could bet that the Athlete was wasting time or stealing money!

If you ever want to check the temperature and figure out if YOU or someone else is growing…here are 5 undeniable signs that GROWTH is taking place:

1. Increased Appetite: You want more… more information, more growth, more challenge. You become a voracious (wanting or devouring great quantities of food) Athlete always seeking for ways to get better.

   You graduate from milk to meat. You are a stickler for the fundamentals, but you look for ways to separate from the pack. You do this by:

   Intent

   Asking Great Questions

   Engaging In Quality Conversations

   Superior Listening Skills

2. Discomfort & Unease: New levels require new strength…you will be uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable is a sign of growth. We truly need to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

   You do not have to do it alone, though!

   Jesus himself told us in John 16: 33

3. Clumsiness: You are going through to mess up… Get used to it. Any time you learn a new skill, are growing in a new environment, you will feel and appear clumsy.

Your body is not going to be able to move at the same speed as your mind {at least not yet}. Do not worry…when you keep at it, you will catch up to speed in no time.

A baby horse is clumsy when it is born, but starts to trot next to its mother within 90 minutes.

4. Psychological Development: You will begin to mature mentally and emotionally. When you are growing, not only is your body adapting, but your brain/mind is as well. You are able to see details and big picture.

Your self-awareness increases, and you use your mental energy in newer and more efficient ways.

What used to bother you before will now make you laugh.

5. Production: Numbers, Statistics, and Measurables improve for all to see. This is pretty straightforward. Famed business mogul, Peter Drucker, once said, “You cannot manage what you cannot measure.”

   An easy way to evaluate growth is to check the numbers….

   Are you getting better? By how much? How many? What are the details?

   You need to be careful though, because you don’t want to live here…

   If you have been doing some of the things suggested earlier in this message, production will take care of itself.

You Friend,

Josiah Igono