“Your character defines your fate…not your talent!”
I love this quote, and I think in 8 words, it captures the essence of success and enhancing performance — your character/values/behaviours.
So, I might be a tad biased, given my business works with athletes and sports organisations to build their foundations — shaping who they are and defining where they are going in order to enhance performance — but let’s look at this for a minute. Are those athletes and sports organisations that have achieved success the most talented or gifted? More often than not the answer is no. Michael Jordan wasn’t the most talented player in his generation and Roger Federer isn’t the most gifted player tennis has ever seen. What they do have…is character…the values that define success…tenacity, passion, humility, the desire to prove the impossible to be possible, the will to inspire. I could go on, but you get the point. These traits enable athletes to work harder than their competition, to thrive when the going gets really tough, and to emerge out the other side of potential catastrophe to reap the considerable rewards.
To ensure we tell the whole story, let’s look at the other side of the coin…I am thinking about a certain tennis player who has been in the media recently for all the wrong reasons, and a phenomenally gifted golfer who’s fall from grace had nothing to do with his talent…what is the common theme here? Their values, their traits, and their behaviours define their fate…and if they don’t make some huge changes, it is what will define them…not their sporting ability…but their character.
The great news is that these are things that we can actively influence and change. Yes, you heard that right, we can ‘change’ our values, redefine our character and enhance our performance. Does anyone remember that Roger Federer was a bit of a brat when he was younger…renowned for tantrums and anger? Now look at him…the epitome of cool, calm and collected — not to mention grace, humility and SUCCESS! Coincidence…definitely not. Someone (and it may have been Roger himself) realized that his ‘character’ needed work if he was to achieve greatness…the rest is history. You just need to define who you need to be to get to where you want to get to. Ask yourself “how do I need to act to get to my desired destination?”. There are some fantastic role models that we can look to for insight and even answers.
Continuing this story, let us look at sports teams…does putting all the best talent together guarantee success? Is it just about talent and ability? What can we observe about some of the teams that have created sporting legacies? Is it all about their talent? Or, is it all about their character? Think of the sports teams that have had the most success, especially over a long period of time, what makes them stand out?
We spend so much time and resource on enhancing the physical and mental talent of our athletes and sports teams…and I am not saying that we should stop doing that, it has been proven time and again that it results in performance enhancement. What I am saying is let’s spend some time and effort on ‘character’, as that can have an immeasurable impact on performance. Just think what could be achieved by combining the physical, mental and foundational (character)!!!
Do you want control over your fate?
It is your character that will define how you respond to adversity! It is your character that will help you overcome the barriers that will be thrust in your path! It is your character that will attract sponsors, coaches, supporters, fans (not to mention post-sporting life employers etc), and it is your character that will ultimately determine your success!
Yes, you need talent as well, there is no doubting that…but your character will trump talent every single day of the week!
