So how do you create a plan that lets you master this initial secret?
The very first thing to do is to really understand your schedule. Many around you will assume you are not disciplined enough to set a schedule that fits your long-term goals . . . or even the goals of your head coach. That’s why forces beyond your control will set practice times, conditioning times, eating times (Training Table), class times, study times (mandatory Study Hall), injury rehabilitation times, and sometimes even bedtimes.
All of a sudden, one thing missing in your calendar is free time. This is a hard realization for many and it often comes as a surprise to learn that one day you wake up and realize there is no time to hear a guest speaker on campus or to join a campus organization featuring a topic or profession that interests you. The choice has been made for you. Classes, practice, eat, study, sleep. Repeat for seasons on end.
This is not to say that you won’t have any free time at all . . . but free time is often not “free” and it is sometimes the hardest time to spend wisely. So, a part of this first secret is learning how to schedule your free time to plan and accomplish the bigger-picture goals you want to achieve.
One trick is developing lists of things you want to do or see. Lists are also fun because you can throw them away as soon as you make them or you can carry them around for years. Lists can be created in spare time, boring time, while eating or, as some people do, as your day starts. They can be “Must Do” lists or “Dreaming to Do” notations. Here are a few to consider:
• Places I Would Like to Visit on Vacation
• Places Where I Would Like to Live
• Dream Jobs
• Books I Would Like to Read
• People I Would Like to Meet
• Potential Mentors I Should Connect With
• Musical Acts I Want to See before I Am 30
• 10 Celebrities I Would Invite to Dinner
• Cars I Would Like to Fix Up and Own
• Hobbies I Would Like to Have
• Grad Schools I Would Consider Attending
• Meals I Would Eat if the Zombie Apocalypse Was Starting in One Week
• Locations Where I Could Outlast the Walking Dead Zombies
Your “Dream Jobs” consideration may be the last thing most readers would construct, but in reality, should probably be among the first. Instead, responses such as the ones below are something you may catch yourself saying . . .
• I don’t have a dream job. I’ve never thought about that.
• I want to own the Dallas Cowboys or get hired as the general manager of the New York Rangers.
• My dream job is to work for _____ but I know I could never get them to hire me.
• None of my dream job companies recruit at my university.
• What do you mean by dream job? Do you mean like working for someone cool or just doing a task that’s easy?
• What’s the difference between a dream job and a dream company?
• Dream jobs don’t exist. That’s fantasy for people who believe that stuff that if you follow your dreams, you can be happy. Where I come from, there are no dream jobs. Just stupid jobs.
For some, the “Dream Jobs” list would include the following companies:
• Apple or Samsung
• Google or Mozilla Firefox
• Facebook or Twitter
• EA Sports or Activision
• The NFL, WNBA, MMA, WTA, NASCAR, or USOC
• Under Armour or Adidas
• Microsoft or Dell
• Nike or Abercrombie & Fitch
• New York Liberty or the LA Clippers
• ESPN, NBC Sports, or Fox Sports
• Disney or 20th Century Fox
As you can see, the list can feature many potential careers, but the power of the list is that it functions as a vehicle for imagination, creativity, and accomplishment. The old adage that “it won’t happen unless you write it down” is true for many and is a strong rationale for lists and plans in general.
One list that is not shown in the many already suggested above is this:
What I Want Out of My Four Years at _______ University.
As an exercise, try making such a list in which you limit yourself to only ten achievements. Then let’s see if the hypothetical list we created here (during our imaginary freshman year) would have any similarity to something you might create:
1. Graduate in four years with a 3.5 GPA.
2. Get hired by Nike to work in an area connected to my sport.
3. Make friends with at least four professors who are intellectually stimulating and committed to my success through introductions and networking.
4. Become a member of at least one campus organization that has nothing to do with sports.
5. Participate in an overseas course that is either a semester abroad or a shorter study tour in another country (less than twenty-one days).
6. Give back to my sport or college community by coaching or using my team’s access to less-privileged individuals.
7. Make three lifelong friends who will be there for me when times are tough (and for whom I will be there when they need me).
8. Get real about how much I will owe in college loans or in appreciation for those who helped me get through college for free.
9. Read four books that were not assigned but that will stretch my imagination or stimulate my intellectual curiosity.
10. Dominate my friends in video games such as EA SPORTS FIFA, Madden NFL, or Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Bonus Extra: Cure cancer, walk on the moon, get my screenplay purchased, record with Beyoncé.
Bonus Plus: Actually take the time to do another Top 10 list.
Again, you should see that the creation of the list is not hard, but committing to the plan that will deliver the itemized outcomes requires long-term awareness. The other piece in the puzzle is figuring out how to evaluate progress toward your various goals. When a student starts his or her freshman year, graduation seems light years away. Four years. At least 120 credits. So many term papers and final exams.
Sheesh. It’s hard, then, to write “Graduate in four years with a 3.5 GPA.” But if that is the goal, the 3.5 GPA allows for semester-by-semester evaluation. Like an athlete, you will have either exceeded your goal or missed it. If you are ahead, you make plans for leveraging that success. If you are behind, you need to make adjustments. GPA is a great example of the kind of thing to evaluate since it is measurable semester by semester, course by course.
Football movies are famous for their stirring halftime speeches in which the coach convinces the players to put their first half mistakes behind them, to overcome their distrust of each other, to block out the distractions of the crowd and “win one for the Gipper” or some other clichéd personage (how about the speech in Rudy or inspirational words said to Michael Oher in The Blind Side). Sometimes players get chewed out at halftime. Sometimes players get the silent treatment. But invariably, the announcers covering