Coach Tip Tuesday: At the End of All Things

“I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things.”

J.R.R. Tolkien

My friends, it’s really hard to believe it, but today marks one year of Coach Tip Tuesday! That makes this my 52nd tip. I honestly didn’t think I would have enough content to keep it going this long. (That in and of itself is remarkable because goodness I practically always have something to say and I have opinions on pretty much everything.) But, when I dared to not post early in the day one Tuesday last summer, I was bombarded by messages from people who were waiting for me to post Coach Tip Tuesday. Realizing that people were actually reading what I wrote and missing it if I didn’t post early in the morning suddenly helped me continuously come up with more content.

While my colleague Coach April Corey coach who pioneered the concept of Coach Tip Tuesday, many people might not realize that my version of Coach Tip Tuesday was inspired by my friend and mentor, Brendan Jackson.

When Brendan died a year ago, I was overcome with sadness. I was beyond sad that I wouldn’t get to see my friend anymore, but more importantly, I was sad that more people would not have the opportunity to benefit from his pearls of wisdom. The only way I knew to express that emotion was to write about it, and so I wrote my first Coach Tip Tuesday, which was sharing a phrase I learned from Brendan about a concept both of us hold dear. We believe in training smarter, not harder. And so, I shared his quip, “Why would you spend $50,000 on a car when you could have that same car for $30,000?”

And so now one year later, to celebrate a year of Coach Tip Tuesdays, I want to share another Brendan-ism. He used to tell athletes, “If you actually got your act together, you might be halfway decent.” While this might seem harsh, it’s honestly the kick in the rear that many of us need. My takeaway from this has always been that you should be focused and relatively organized in your athletic pursuits.

What does this mean? It means that you should be clear in your goal-setting. It means that you should understand and map out what it is going to take for you to reach your goals. It means that when you’re working towards that goal, that you should be in and committed to it, not just half-heartedly putzing along. What you’re doing in training should be helping you towards your goal, not impeding your journey. That focus and that organization will enable you to reach your very best.

And so yes, 52 weeks after the first Coach Tip Tuesday, this is, as our friend Frodo says in The Lord of the Rings, the end of things.  But, also like Frodo’s journey, this is the beginning, too.  All endings are also beginnings, and so here we go into the second year of Coach Tip Tuesday.  Thanks for sticking with me and reading my ramblings, my friends.  I am glad you are here with me.