How the discipline learn in the sports

Ask any successful athlete what the key to their success is. More than likely, you'll hear the word "discipline" at some point, and for good reason.

Being great at something often requires countless hours of hard work. While natural talent is important in sports, it can only take you so far. Whether you're on the court, in the ring, on a team, or competing solo, it's hard work that takes you from "good player" and "talent" to "legendary." This job requires discipline.

WHAT IS DISCIPLINE?

If you do a quick Google search you will find the definition of discipline. It is "training people to follow a rule or code of conduct, using punishment to correct disobedience". That's one thing, but for athletes, discipline means something else entirely.

Discipline in sports means deciding to cook at home when all your friends are out for a burger. Missing nights because you have to be ready for training at 6am. Sometimes you experience it in your twenties because you never had a chance to be young and wild because you were always training. It's about finding the motivation to get up when it's still dark, cold, windy, raining and snowing and put on your training gear, ready to start your day off right. Continues when you want to stop. Discipline is hard.

Top athletes have gone through all this for most of their lives. Some days are better than others; some days feel like a punishment. In sports, however, great discipline is not punishment. It is a tool that will help you get a great reward. It can be a gold medal, a world title or a personal best. And in turn, this can lead to great things in your future.

WHAT DISCIPLINE TEACHES US

Not all athletes are professionals. Those who understand the importance of discipline. Those who don't use the discipline they learned in sports to be successful in other aspects of their lives, whether it's continuing to improve their sport, teaching others as a coach, or some other path. Discipline teaches us a lot about the harder parts of life.

IT TEACHES US THE VALUE OF HARD WORK

The famous American politician Theodore Roosevelt is the one who said: “Nothing in the world is worth having or doing unless it means effort, pain and trouble. I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life.” The reason this quote is still so important today is because it is true.

But everyone knows that training is hard. It's hard not to dwell on how hard it is, but this negative thinking can bring you and your teammates down. Eventually negativity will hold you back. Sports teach us the hard way.

The more negative we are, the more difficult it is to progress. The goal of training is not to beat ourselves because we are no longer awesome. It is to focus on our technique, breathing, speed and improvement. Pain is just a side effect of progress and it will be worth it. This applies to everything we do, whether at work, school or in our personal lives. When we exercise and develop discipline, we can push through whatever life throws our way.

IT TEACHES US ABOUT SACRIFICE

Discipline often means forgoing instant gratification when necessary for long-term success. This can be anything from TV, video games and food to time with friends and other hobbies. Having discipline means you can focus on your ultimate goal: to be the best at the sport you love. This is useful when you're studying for exams or when you have to do things you'd rather not do.

Studies estimate that 25 to 75% of collage students. procrastinating on your academic work. The result is hellish nights in the library and extreme stress trying to fit a month's worth of work into a few hours. The perfect storm of procrastination occurs when an unpleasant task meets a person with high impulsivity and low self-discipline. Learning discipline through sports removes the low self-discipline factor and helps you stay motivated.

Of course, this doesn't mean throwing your life away completely. You can still have fun and occasionally indulge. Discipline is about knowing when to cut back and when to have fun.

IT TEACHES US ABOUT LOSS

Losing as an athlete is inevitable. Maybe you're feeling under the weather or today just wasn't your day. Sometimes the other team or competitor was simply better than you. As an athlete, you have to deal with it and move on.

You have two choices: be a sore loser or accept the loss, congratulate the winners and go home and train to get better. In sports, the only choice that will benefit you is the latter, and carrying this into your everyday life will be immensely beneficial. It forms the basis of a growth mindset where someone else's win doesn't seal your fate as a loser. You get your shot at success because you know you can always get better and better in business, sports, education, relationships, or anything else you put your mind to.

WE LEARN HOW TO COMPLEMENT YOUR GOALS

There are no shortcuts in sports. If you want to do it, you have to put in the work. The story of Michael Jordan is famous. He is often referred to as one of the greatest athletes of all time, but he didn't even make his high school basketball team. Coaches told him he wasn't good enough or tall enough to play varsity.

Instead, he was relegated to a junior varsity team. In his book, he details how hard he had to work throughout his career to become the basketball player we know him to be today. In sports, we are always working on something and learning the best way to get there.

There are many things we can learn from sports, but discipline has to be one of the best. It gives us the edge to overcome difficult times in life and stay motivated to achieve our goals despite setbacks. If that's not another great reason to play sports, we don't know what is.