The “Just Tell Me What to Do” Athlete Will Face Slower Growth
Written by Fritz Nugent
Many athletes come into the Invictus Nutrition program and ask us to TELL them exactly what to eat. Can we do this for you? Of course we could! However, we don’t work this way. We are NOT dietitians and aren’t legally allowed to tell you exactly what to eat!Â
The mission of the Invictus program seeks to TEACH YOU HOW TO MAKE THESE DECISIONS ON YOUR OWN. This facilitates long-term growth instead of following a script. If you were to simply follow an exact program of what to eat and how much, you may reach your short-term goals. However, this is not a recipe for long-term success and only pushes the necessary lessons which the athlete needs to grow further into the future.
There is an underlying theme with athletes who want to be TOLD what to do instead of learning to think for themselves. I think that some athletes enjoy being TOLD what to do so that they can put their head down and work with minimal thinking. This is a recipe for slow growth, and when things don’t work out like the athlete hoped, they can always use the line, “I did exactly as you said and I didn’t get what I wanted”.Â
It is my opinion that athletes who want to be told exactly what to do either don’t think that they have the ability to learn and grow, or they don’t want to shoulder the burden of growth themselves and would rather outsource this to a coach.Â
A coach’s responsibility is guidance, support, and accountability. A coach’s role is NOT complete and utter control over what an athlete does. The best athletes in the world are great learners and often operate through a partnership between themselves and their coach. The best coaches in the world are not dictators. They are educators.