“Say it out loud…”
Shared by Breanne Smedley
A few volleyball seasons ago, I was doing some goal setting with my team.
One of the tasks was to share out specific long-term goals that players had in various areas of their lives.
One of those areas, of course, was in volleyball. Most girls shared things like:
“Beat my number of aces from last year”
“Have the highest passing average on the team”
“Average 10 kills a match”
As they shared, they would be met with some head nods. Then the next person would go.
Then, one of my players stood up to share. Her paper was shaking a little as she looked down at what she wrote. She paused for a second, before starting.
“Umm..I want… (cough)” her voice cracked a little.
“I want to play volleyball at a Division I college.” She finally finished.
It was bold.
At the time, this player was entering her sophomore season. She hadn’t yet played a massive role on the team.
I watched as other girls on the team perked up as she shared her goal.
Some of their eyes widened. Some looked visibly uncomfortable. One simply said, “Wow!”
She had done what the other players to share before her hadn’t.
Shared a goal that scared her to say out loud.
She could have kept it safe. She could have said something like:
“Get five blocks a game”
“Make an all-league team by my senior year”
Or even: “Play in college”
All of these goals would have gotten the same response as what had been shared by the others that went before her.
Some head nods. Because they were all attainable and “reasonable” goals. They could probably be accomplished with the same amount of effort given the previous year.
But play Division I?
That took a different level of commitment, training, mindset, and skill-set.
And the girls knew it.
It was a bold statement.
I’ve been lucky enough to watch how this player has developed over the past three years since starting that goal.
Hands down, she is one of the hardest workers that I’ve coached. Disciplined, determined, will not be out-worked.
She has yet to receive a Division I offer. However, she has received Division II, and her first DI school reached out to her last week.
I can’t help but think that her ability to state that scary goal as a freshman has propelled her training, her mindset, and her work ethic.
The other day, I was challenged to share a similar bold vision. This time, about the one year vision of The Mindfluent Leader.
Kristina and I took turns, stating out loud what we saw. I was nervous. I wanted to put disclaimers on my vision. I was uncomfortable.
Some of the things we shared:
-Create a large and powerful community of women who support, encourage, and lead each other
-Develop offerings of courses, workshops, programs, and events, and mentorship opportunities for women to engage in
-Train female coaches in the area of mindset and leadership
-Write a book
-Be an ImpactClubⓇ co-founder (https://impactclub.com/)
-Develop Mindfluent Leadership into a six-figure business
We know these are bold. Some sound a little crazy.
Here’s the thing about real vision, though.
It HAS to sound a little crazy, or it’s not good enough.
Tommy Baker, in the 1% Rule writes this about setting your goals:
“If it makes you feel uncomfortable, fantastic. Your vision should make you feel uncomfortable, otherwise, it’s corporate, incremental, and vanilla. Speaking your vision should make your voice tremble in excitement, nervousness, and passion…”
That bold, scary vision is that dream that you whisper to yourself, and only yourself.
That thing that you think in the back of your mind as something that “would be cool to do, someday.”
Maybe it’s that job that you know you’d be good at and love, but it’d mean leaving the current one that’s safe, secure, and pays well.
We all have big visions. But most of us, sadly, keep them to ourselves.
For fear of what others might think. For fear of failing. For fear of the work that will have to follow if we say them out loud.
Do it anyway.
Say it out loud, write it down, and let the work follow.
#InspirationallyImpactful
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