What You Do Next Matters

As I was watching multiple upsets happen over the weekend, I was reminded of an end of season meeting I had with one of my athletes. We had just come off of what was a pretty terrible season. We only had about half the team buying in to what we wanted to be as a program and so that held us back a lot. She mentioned that we didn't have a "signature win" that season. It was true. We didn't have many wins at all and we certainly didn't have a BIG WIN that we could get really HYPED about on the season. I asked her a question and the conversation went something like this:

Me - After you guys beat "team x" last year, what did you do?

Athlete - What do you mean?

Me - Well, did you guys use and take that win to propel you into improving, working harder or being more focused on what you wanted to accomplish that season?

Athlete - No. Not really.

Me - So you have this great win, which it was, but I would be more concerned and more focused on what we do next. We are going to have some great wins going forward and we are going to have more losses. What matters most in both of those situations is what we do next. You guys are going to make mistakes, that's fine, but what I want to see us do is take those wins and losses, good plays and bad plays, and use them to propel us forward so that we can get better. That way, at the end of the season we are looking back over the whole season with pride, instead of just looking back at one match.

What you do next matters.

How does this apply to recruiting you ask?

You have a hitting error on set point in front of a college coach? - Start the next set off with a kill!

A school doesn't email you back? - email them again.

You end up losing your top school to another athlete? - fire off a few more emails to some new schools.

You get a scholarship?! - Great. Now go be a 1st team all-conference athlete for that program.

You're given a walk-on opportunity?! - Great. Now go earn playing time and even a starting position on that roster.

Regardless of what happens - good or bad - it's what you do next that matters. Don't settle. Set exceptional goals. Aim big. Do all you can on the way to reach whatever goals you have.