Masterclass: Plan And Make The Effort To Be Your Best

Posted by on May 18, 2008 in Articles | 0 comments

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I heard an expression that made me think recently, it was ’95% of people turn up’. I think that the application of this expression to cricket is that in most cases 100% of people turn up to a game, but how many of the 24 people at the game turn up to do what it takes to win or to play the best game of their lives or to take responsibility for their team winning the match.

I believe that great performances don’t just happen, they are a result of making the effort to plan carefully and having the courage to make a disciplined effort to execute the plan with precision. People don’t play for Australia or achieve any great success by accident it is the result planning and effort.

I think the easy thing to do is just turn up to a match and go with the flow of the game taking the attitude that if your team and team-mates have a good day you can cruise along with them. It’s easy not to think! (95% of people turn up!)

The tough but rewarding thing to do is to make the effort to take the responsibility for being the very best you can be. This path does not guarantee you success, however it does give you the chance to be the best you can be and if you never aim to do something, how can you achieve it other than by luck and let’s face it you could be waiting around a long time for a lucky break!

To be the best you can be means you need the courage to take the risk to commit fully to carrying out your game plan and accepting the consequences no matter the result. You need the courage to test yourself and see how good you can be and this means taking the risk to fail. However, failure is not a bad thing in fact I see it as an opportunity and if you can be honest with yourself every performance is an opportunity to learn weather you succeed of fail. For example if you failed under a certain set of conditions or against a certain bowler what did other people do that worked in these circumstances that you can learn from or how can you do it better next time.

When you turn up to your next game, will you be prepared to be the best you can be? Are you prepared to play the best game of your life or better your personal best performances? If the answer to any of these questions is YES, then have you got the plan, discipline and courage to make the effort that it requires?

Good luck

Mark

To date Mark has amassed extensive professional experience as an elite player with the Tasmanian, the Prime Ministers XI, Australian XI and Australia ‘A’ teams and an array of clubs in the United Kingdom and New South Wales. Mark’s elite level cricket experience is complemented by a Bachelor’s degree in physical education, which has enabled him to apply his knowledge of bio mechanics, skill acquisition, sport psychology and learning methodologies to his own career as a professional player and coach. His coaching credentials and expertise have been further enhanced through the attainment of his Level 3 cricket coaching accreditation from Cricket Australia. Mark has a Master’s degree in Business Administration, from Southern Cross University, Australia.

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