Self evaluation. How often should we do it? How important is it? How can you be completely honest with yourself?
Self evaluation is probably the hardest thing that any athlete, or any person for that matter, can do. And no matter how hard, it must be done.
While there is no set schedule that should be made, and doing it every day is probably too much, I think that when ever you have a question about where you are in your own quest it is time. Maybe its once a year or a few times a year, but everyone of us has to have questions from time to time.
Are we training right? Are we eating right? Are we really giving it all we have? Are we in the right situation? Or any other question that may come into your mind. A question that makes you uneasy, or causes you to not sleep right is a signal that it is time to self evaluate.
Self evaluating is very difficult if you do it right. You have to ask yourself the hardest questions and be brutally honest with your answers.
A lot of times you will find that the signal of uneasiness or a sense of questioning, was a warning sign that maybe you are off track. That you have deviated from the path you set out for yourself, or that the path has somehow changed and you need to look to changing what you are doing to get back on course.
Often times when you find yourself off course, the decisions you must make to get back on course are difficult ones. These decisions are likely to effect other people. People will question your decision. People may criticize your decision. People may blame you for a decision that may impact their own decision making process.
While all of those things may happen, you must stay true to yourself. Your goals, your dreams. If people can not support you or get behind you and your choices, you never needed them in the first place.
Unfortunately success has a lonely journey before you reach that destination. Hard choices must be made.
Self evaluation does not mean beating yourself up for mistakes or a deviation from your plan that you didn’t even realize you made.
Self evaluation is an honest conversation with yourself. A conversation about getting what you want, not what the coach wants, or your mom, or your adviser, or your girlfriend, or the guy sitting next to you in the room. It is simply about you.
Along your journey, you are the only thing that can get in your way. Everything else can be put aside.
As we end the year, its a great time to reflect and self evaluate. Its a great time to make conscious choices about tomorrow. You can never move into the future if you are constantly looking in the rear view mirror. Self evaluation is only for those who have the determination to become what they truly believe they can be. It is not for weak people, it is a tool for growth.
I hope that those players that may read this today as they prepare for the holiday break, take a little bit of time to look in the mirror and do the work that will allow you to focus moving ahead in the new year.
Joseph Kolodziej – Adviser
