I came across this great line by writer and entrepreneur Sahil Bloom the other day.
He was giving advice to a young person who was frustrated with their lack of results despite feeling like they’d been working hard:
We are deeply uncomfortable with the idea that things like timing, luck and chance play an outsized role in determining one’s success - especially in the sports world.
The Hard Work = Success or “HWES” crowd forgets, though, that things that are not entirely within one’s control play an outsized role in college recruiting.
Metrics like height, speed, weight, fast twitch fibers, the zip code you’re born in, the quality of the coaching you receive, the overall talent of your high school program, the level of support your high school staff provides in placing you in college, all are things not readily within your control, but still play outsized roles in the outcome of one’s recruiting.
In recruiting, there are always players who have such a tsunami of God-given talent that they get a D1 scholarship after only playing a single season of football. They couldn’t help BUT get a scholarship.
We love stories like Rudy - a struggling walk on at Notre Dame finally, after multiple seasons of getting his head kicked in, sees the field on his senior game for a single series and makes a tackle.
But, everyone forgets how miserable Rudy was for most of the movie. More so still, for every Rudy that makes the team, there are at least 100 other Rudy’s who thought they could but didn’t.
(Will there even be another Rudy with rosters trimming to 105 players next year?)
What’s probably more important, Sahil argues, is that you find a way to wake up excited to do what you’re doing, and continually find ways to be of value to others, no matter the context.
Are you pumped to go to practice on a Tuesday? Are you excited to find ways to bring more value to your teammates, coaches and program?
Happiness in sports recruiting is often more a decision one makes to indeed be happy than it is a destination or offer one attains.
BC