It\u2019s one thing to say that you want to be the best ski racer you can be. It\u2019s an entirely different thing to actually do the things necessary to achieve that goal. In other words, talk is cheap! You have to want it and you have to want it bad! Why? Because the chances are that you have a lot of forces in your life that don\u2019t always align with your ski racing goals and can, in fact, actively pull you away from them. Even worse, they can actually hurt your efforts to accomplish your goals. These conflicting forces might include wanting to stay out late with your friends, eating a bunch of junk food, spending time staring at a screen, skipping workouts, the list goes on. When faced with these options, you have to make a choice about what\u2019s most important to you.<\/p>\n
Forks in the Road<\/strong><\/p>\n I call these choices \u201cforks in the road,\u201d in which you have the option of two or more directions you can take. In fact, you are faced with potentially meaningful forks in the road every day in your ski racing and your life:<\/p>\n There are many influences that can determine which fork in the road you take; for example, fatigue, pain, boredom, equally or more attractive alternatives, and a multitude of distractions that now inhabit the lives of ski racers.<\/p>\n There are also bigger forks in the road at various times in your ski racing life:<\/p>\n These \u201cexistential\u201d questions are impacted by some of the immediate forces I described above, but also by bigger concerns including your current ranking, your developmental trajectory, what schools you want to attend, and, of course, whether you or your family can afford to take a particular fork in the road.<\/p>\n There are no right-or-wrong answers to any of these questions. The so-called correct answer depends on your values, interests, and goals. At those many forks in the road that you face every day, you must decide what is important to you. You must look at each fork and decide which one you will take. The motivation you bring to your sport, your commitment and determination to achieve your ski racing goals, the priority that you place on those goals, and the competing forces acting as a siren\u2019s call for your attention, time, and energy will dictate which road you take and whether you ultimately accomplish your goals.<\/p>\n Efforts = Goals?<\/strong><\/p>\n An important question for you to ask yourself as you are faced with these forks in the road is whether your efforts are consistent with your goals. In other words, are you putting forth enough effort to achieve your ski racing goals? I see a lot of young ski racers with big goals, but when I ask them whether their efforts equal their goals, few are willing to raise their hands. But one thing is for sure; if your efforts aren\u2019t in line with your goals, you will not accomplish them. You have two choices, either increase your efforts to match your goals or reduce your goals to match your effort. Again, there is no clear fork to take here, just the fork that you choose.<\/p>\n The Question to Ask<\/strong><\/p>\n If you have made a true commitment to becoming the best ski racer you can be and are willing to \u201cput your money where your mouth is,\u201d then when faced with difficult forks in the road, you can ask yourself one simple question: \u201cWill it help me ski faster<\/em>?\u201d This question takes all of the complexities of the many competing forces and boils them down to one simple notion that lies at the heart of being the best ski racer you can be. This question also provides a clear distinction when you are tempted by other forces in your lives, most notably, screen time, sleep, and nutrition.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve made a real commitment to your ski racing, this \u201cWill it help me ski faster?\u201d question filters all of the forks in the road you face and makes your choice of the fork to take abundantly clear.<\/p>\n Especially for young racers who are still figuring out their priorities and their commitments, one of the most common responses I hear when they are faced with a fork in the road is: \u201cI don\u2019t feel like it today.\u201d This reaction often comes when they are confronted with a fork in the road between short-term fun and long-term commitment to our sport. I hear this when racers are required to choose whether to take extra training runs, get in additional days on snow during the off-season prep period, when they are tired and aren\u2019t in the mood to work out, and when they would like to run around the hotel with their friends the night before a race. Each of these situations is a test of racers\u2019 commitment to their ski racing.<\/p>\n \u201cCommitment means staying loyal to what you said you were going to do long after the mood you said it in has left you.<\/em>\u201d Jonathan Field, 5-time martial arts world champion It\u2019s Not Just Racers\u2019 Commitment<\/strong><\/p>\n As the saying goes, \u201cIt takes a village,\u201d and that applies to ski racing as well. When ski racers make a commitment to our sport, they\u2019re not the only ones making a commitment. Most notably, their parents are also making a significant commitment of time, energy, money, and sometimes making big sacrifices in their own lives (e.g., moving to the mountains, separating from spouses and other children). This commitment from parents makes the ongoing commitment of young racers especially important. For sure, parents don\u2019t always feel like writing big checks, waking up at 5:30 to drive their kids to early-bird training, and tuning their kids\u2019 skis, but they do it anyway because they want to support their children\u2019s passion for something that is as positive and healthy as ski racing. In turn, young ski racers need to reciprocate in a similarly committed fashion by making choices that also best support their ski racing goals. Without an alignment of commitment between racers and their parents, there are going to be some very frustrated parents and some very unhappy racers. At these forks in the road, racers should always go back to the basic question I suggested that they ask first: \u201cWill it help me ski faster?\u201d Then, when they take the good road, everyone wins.<\/p>\n\n
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