Do you want the Merc before you do the work?

I’ve recently been involved in a conversation about coaching the generation “Y” athletes. These are the “young guns” who have grown up getting things without having to work too hard for them.

They’re a major worry for coaches around the country. It has been suggested that traditional coaching approaches don’t work on this group. The coaching staff of large football teams, of all codes are faced with the problem of building teams which will work together for the common good, with gen “Y” kids.

I’m fortunate to be involved in training adults. This is less of a problem with adults but some have been influenced by the “age of instant gratification”.

It seems that in an age where our parents cater for our every need, entertainment, transport, positive reinforcement, money and protection, we are producing “soft” kids. Is it any wonder why the best juniors in the triathlon world are coming from Mexico, Argentina, Eastern Europe.

This problem is not limited to the kids. I know adults who have grown up with mothers who were too sympathetic. Most of the “sooks” I’ve known were created by sympathetic mothers or wives.

The gen “Y” group need to be entertained all the time. They have short attention spans. They are prepared to do the work, if it’s fun and interesting. If it’s mundane, foundation laying stuff, you’ll lose them. I have recently let a talented young guy slip through my “net”, because he was just not going to make it. He had grandiose plans of what he wanted, but when it came time to lay the solid foundations for such plans, he was not “on the same page”. I’m not going to change pages for some young guy whose mum has spent the past 18yrs packing him in cotton wool and making excuses for him.  I could entertain him over the next few years, catering for his “special needs” but one important day, I won’t be there, his mum won’t be there, and he’ll discover the world can be a cruel, hard place for a mummy’s boy.

We’ve been attracted to this sport because we want to be tested. We want to know how we perform when the chips are down. Whether we’re aware of this or not, it’s this part of the sport which attracts most of us.

To do well, we have to be prepared. To be prepared, we have to do lots of steady base building stuff. This is not racing a bunch of pretenders around a city circuit for an hour or so and finishing it off with a cappuccino. This may be interesting and exciting, and you may get to dress up like a “real cyclist”. But to perform in a real race at a level you have never reached before is going to take lots of hours of less interesting, less exciting, almost boring training.

Training for an Ironman has many parallels with business. We all know people in business who, go straight for the trappings of wealth before they have accumulated the wealth.  The big house, the pool, the luxury cars, every electrical gadget known to man. As soon as there’s a downturn in business, the panic sets in. Instead of building a business (laying a foundation) and then letting it provide the trappings of wealth, we see these people squeezing the life out of the business to pay for the image of wealth. (trying to support a lifestyle on little if any foundation)

Like in business, laying the foundations is not that exciting, it’s mundane repetitive work that just has to be done. When the right foundations have been laid, the rewards start to flow back in ever increasing waves.

Again, like in business, you have to dedicate time each season to work on your foundations. Always adding, always strengthening the base. If you’re good at something, maintain it and add some value to something you’re not as good at.

The most successful people I’ve ever met are

* Hard workers, they may be incredibly successful, but they keep working at it.

* Good at time management, they have always got time for what’s important

* Great innovators, always looking for an improvement

* They handle setbacks in there stride, it’s like they expect some setbacks, they just pause for a moment and find another way to get the job done.

* They have long term plans, they’re not seeking instant gratification, they’re prepared to do the work, and then buy the Merc.