Developing Good Life Skills – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 16, 2001
By Head Coach Jim Tressel
It is important for us to remember that our athletes are student-athletes first and foremost. We are part of the educational process to learn and grow in knowledge and wisdom in preparation for a productive life. We are committed to growing mentally, physically and spiritually as we strive to be the best we can be, which we call reaching your full potential (RYFP).
In the process of education and mentoring our student-athletes, we find it important to develop an understanding that although having knowledge is important, the wisdom in decisions to use that knowledge is even more critical. There must be a good balance between knowledge and wisdom. Technical knowledge is essential, but we must never forget the human element as we deal with the technicalities of athletics on the field and academic material in preparation for life. Perhaps Albert Einstein said it best:
“Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors: Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.”
Part of the equation for success in life is understanding that success is a journey and it will take a long time. We must also define what success is to us. The dictionary would tell us, and it seems to be the belief in society in general, that success is the accumulation of material money or possessions, prestige in rank and power. However, we at Ohio State have developed our own definition of success, which is – the inner satisfaction and peace of mind we gain in knowing that we did the best we could do for the group (our family, our team, our fellow workers, or the community). Simply winning games is not enough and neither is the accumulation of status symbols. How we win and what we do for the group is crucial to us.
So, understanding that success is a journey and there will be ups and downs along the way is important. Even if we have some success or the satisfaction of making positive progress, we know that the next day the journey continues. For us to enjoy the journey, we believe that certain things must be in place. These are the areas that we develop:
I. to have a plan, goals, dreams,
II. to work,
III. to handle adversity and handle success,
IV. and to have faith and believe.
I) We must have a plan, our goals, and our dreams. To help build that plan we have three basic goals.
A) To graduate with a meaningful and useful degree from Ohio State and prepare our student-athletes to become responsible, productive citizens.
B) To strive to win and not be timid about wanting to be the best that we can on the field.
C) To create a positive impact through service to our institution, our community, and society at large.
In order to accomplish these main goals, we start by introducing each player to the “Block of Life,” which has six component areas in which we want our student-athletes to grow and develop while they are with us. These areas are depicted around the famous Ohio State Block “O.” They are:
Personal and family
Spiritual and moral
Academic and career
Caring and giving
Football Family
Strength and Fitness
To help our student-athletes grow and accomplish in these areas, we use the blueprint of a goal sheet.
Click here to see the goal sheet used at Ohio State.
We ask our student athletes to think and write first short and then long-range goals and how they plan to accomplish these goals. We want the goals to be specific and measurable and in their own words. Then, others like parents and coaches can help the student-athletes shape and refine the goals and the necessary steps to accomplish these goals. We want them to understand that things change as we progress and grow and it will be a continual journey.
II) Once we have helped our student-athletes develop the blueprint of their plan, we must help them understand how much work it takes to get there.
A) It will be tough. There is no easy road.
B) It takes time and work effort to become what you can become.
III) We must also help them understand that there will be adversity and obstacles to overcome along the way even though we did all that we were supposed to do. We must handle the adversity, persist, and move forward. Also, on the journey there will be successes and we have to handle the successes equally as well. Knowing that there will be a mix of good and bad things that will happen along the journey, we must understand that what influences the outcome most are the decisions each of us make and the actions we take on those decisions. Decisions determine our destiny.
IV) Then to be ultimately successful we must have the faith and belief in ourselves that it will happen. With hard work to follow the plan, obstacles can be overcome and we can have a successful journey and continual growth in all areas and not just in athletics.
