Be Intentional About It All

“Intentions count in your actions.”

         Abu Bakr

     Today is the day that all fathers would be proud to experience. After years of playing the sport that you and your son love the decision has been made. Today is national signing day and your son is signing with the college that affords him the best opportunity to succeed. Your son has worked on his craft with many hours of practice and several years of sacrifice. You have been with your son every step of the way and you hope his success continues all the way to the pros. This scholarship is now a reality because from the first day your son played Pop Warner football you were intent on helping him be the best he can be. That decision has turned out to be a great one for you and your son

   It’s easy to see the impact of this intentional decision 13 years later. However there have been many other intentional decisions made along the way. Do you remember the times you woke your son up on Saturday mornings to run sprints in the front yard? You knew the importance of speed to play the sport so you wanted to help him develop that speed. That was an intentional decision that helped your son reach this point. Do you remember the times you worked with your son on his homework so he could keep the grades needed to be eligible to play? Coming home from work and having your son show you his work was an intentional decision that helped your son reach this point. Of course you remember all of your son’s practices you attended so you could see how your son was working throughout the week. This allowed you to provide extra coaching after practice at home to help your son be a better player. That intentional decision also helped your son reach this point of success.

This Was Not Luck

     Your son is here because he deserves to be here. Your son may be lucky to have been born with innate athletic skills but the intentional decisions to harness those skills are the reason for the success. Sure many may feel he is lucky that the coach ran across his film or heard about him in the news but if he wasn’t prepared for the opportunity none of this would have happened. Your son is successful because he took responsibility for his success with your help and did what it took to earn this scholarship. This is a great lesson your son has learned and one he needs to incorporate in all aspects of his life.

     When your son begins his college career he needs to apply those same lessons to his academics. He needs to be decisively intent to graduate with a degree in a field of his choice. After all there are no guarantees that he will make the pros. The only guarantee he has is that if he is decisively intent about his academics he will do what it takes to earn a degree. He will have to make these intentional decisions every day of his college life. He will have to make those decisions on top of all the intentional decisions he will have to make to be successful in his sport. Your son has the opportunity to use his athletic prowess to set him up for a fruitful and successful life. Yet this opportunity is only an opportunity and it will take action to turn it from an opportunity into a reality.

The Right Choices

     The beauty of this opportunity is that if your son is focused and dedicated to the end goal he can achieve all of his desires. The school has tutors available at beck and call for the student athletes to use. The school has mentors, coaches and professors who are available to help as well. The school also has many distractions that can hamper that opportunity. Your son is young and he may be prone to want to party instead of study. He many want to play video games instead of going to see a tutor. He may fall into the trap of letting the school give him a pass because he can play a sport. These are all his choices and he must take responsibility to make the right choice.

   The best way for your son to make the right choice is to make the commitment to be decisively intent each and every day.   One way to do that is for him to wake up every morning and pull out a journal, a piece of paper, a computer or mobile device and decide his intentions for the day. He should write or type what he plans on getting accomplished that day. He should do this for the things that are important to him. Hopefully he agrees that his academics are important to him. If he doesn’t then this advice won’t matter. For example, he may only write or type about what he is going to do to be a better athlete. This will help him achieve his athletic desires. He may even make it to the pros. However, because his academics were not important to him he may not learn what he should have learned while in college. He may end up like the many unfortunate stories of pro athletes that end up broke after earning millions of dollars in contracts. This most likely would have never happened if they earned that business degree from the school they played for in college.

Keep it Simple 

     Whether you are a parent or if you are the student it is critical to your success to be decisively intent. There are so many different ways to that. You just need to make the decision to do it. No one can make that decision for you. This advice can be given but if it isn’t listened to you are the one ultimately responsible for the outcomes. There are so many different approaches to being decisively intent and your job is to find the one that works best for you. The best advice that I can give is to keep it simple. Try to limit it to 3 important things you intend to get done today. When you limit the list you force yourself to think of the things that are important to you. For example don’t write out all the assignments you plan to get done today. Instead write that you plan to have a successful meeting with your Calculus tutor today. When you do meet with your tutor that seed that you planted in the morning will grow and you will complete your assignments because of the successful meeting. 

     Being decisively intent is key to getting the results you want out of life. You will achieve what you set your mind to achieve. Therefore it is also critical you think holistically about your life and what you want to achieve. Be decisively intent about it all and you can have it all. It will take dedication and action on your part. You will have to take that action every day of your life if you truly want to be successful. To some this may sound like a lot of effort. However, once you start you will see how effortless it can be. It will especially feel effortless when you start to count the results you can achieve because of it. There is no golden nugget that will solve everyone’s problems. We all have our own unique circumstances. Yet if you take the time to be decisively intent your unique circumstance can and will be overcome. Let this be your reminder to be decisively intent every day of your life. As always I wish you the best and remind you to enjoy the journey.

With Gratitude,

Drew