Separating yourself as a young athlete

When people talk about how to be the best, the phrase “separate yourself” is often thrown out there.

“If you want to do x, you have to do y to separate yourself.”

I’m a big fan of a young athlete putting work in to stand out when the game starts. I’m an even bigger fan of an athlete when they spend time learning their craft.
I’m not a fan of weightless words.

Phrases get past down from generation to generation with no substance behind them. Sayings that you hear trying to elicit motivation with no road map to get to where you want to go. That’s like a coach telling his or her players to go 5 hours away without giving directions. If they wanted the whole team to arrive at the destination, wouldn’t they want to give as much detail as possible? If you are someone that says, “work to separate yourself from the crowd”, ask yourself one question. Am I providing a road map to my staff or team to do what I’m asking?

We are in a strange time where tons of information is accessible with a simple google search. With that, there has been an influx of the “expert”. As more people gain a platform to speak, there are going to be more ineffective communicators. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great people to follow out there. But, as information becomes more accessible, there is an increased need for ways to process it.

Stepping off of my soapbox now. Back to the point at hand.

In this age of information, we are seeing athletes at younger ages become more educated. Kids at the ages of 12-14 years know way more about their swings than those before them. YouTube has detailed videos for any skill you want to learn. If you want to “separate yourself”, there are so many ways in which you could pursue a route to do so. I want to highlight a few specific ones to help reduce the noise and give something actionable.

Read “Atomic Habits” by James Clear

First, I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t recommend that you follow James Clear. His message is excellent. I am not affiliated with him in any way and do not make any profits by telling you to go check out his book “Atomic Habits”. Still, I am pushing every coach or parent to read and get their team to read this book. The reason being that the message is easy to understand and gets to the point. Without spoiling the book, it talks about the importance of having a routine. It digs into the science behind getting better and helps you know how to get to wherever you want to go. When I finished the book I thought “okay, I know what I need to do”. That’s what we want out of coaching, right? Reading a book means nothing unless it helps lead to action. Check it out and gets your process started.

The Generalist vs The Expert

Next, let’s talk about being an expert versus being a generalist when learning. If someone tells you to make yourself stand out, we usually associate that with doing something extraordinary. If I can jump the highest or run the fastest, I will definitely stand out from my peers. While true, what are the chances you’re the most gifted person in your sport or industry? What if you’re like most folks that don’t have the highest IQ or throw record breaking velocities? Are you stuck with where you are forever? Heck no. In this scenario, you can separate yourself by being competent at a lot of things your company or team values. Our culture has propped up the “expert” to the point of exhaustion and saturation. Now, everyone who reads a book on a topic labels themselves at expert level. What used to take craftsmen decades of apprenticeship to learn is now given away after a weekend course. This is not the way.

If you want to stand out in a saturated market of experts, be the person who does well in any situation. Be a swiss army knife that can handle anything that comes your way with effectiveness. Instead of being the fastest person on the team, be a balanced hitter that plays great defense and leader in the dugout. A person that can do many things is as valuable in a company as the person that does one thing well. We idolize Michael Jordan and Lebron James because they can do everything. They were so good that they owned the floor, not the one shooting guard or small forward position. Sports offer so many avenues to be great that by limiting yourself to one thing, you box yourself into a corner. To stand out, I say widen your foundation.

Outwork Everyone

Last, I want to pass on something the best coach (my dad) ever taught me. There is no substitute for hard work. It’s true, some people are more gifted than you and might get more opportunities than you at a certain thing. But if you want to succeed at a sport, you will be wise to focus on the things you can control. Your effort and mindset will always be a controllable variable. If you hit a hard line drive and it goes right to an outfielder, you can only control how you react to it. You can control how you help your teammates after that line drive and how you carry yourself on the jog back to the dugout. Make the things you say to yourself positive and keep your gaze on outworking everyone you see. Putting effort into something will always hold it’s value no matter how much technology and society evolves.

With these three things, any young athlete should be able to take a giant leap in the right direction. Be a student of whatever sports or subjects interest you.

1. Build a routine
2. Be good at a couple things
3. Outwork everyone

Which of the three things do you struggle with the most? I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below. Check us out on social media we use for different forms of communicating information.