ColumnsInside the Blue: Second OpinionBy: Senior Master Sgt. Jeffrey J. Julig, Air Force <strong>Shooting</strong> TeamSuccess is an inside job. It is a leadershipand self-improvement maxim that transcendsmany aspects of business, sport and personallife. Successful individuals sow the seeds of improvementwithin and nurture them to reachtheir goals. It is internal drive and determinationthat motivates and inspires people to reachtheir goals. The tangible reward or recognitionat the end of the match is the product of highperformance, but true satisfaction is held deepwithin knowing you reached your goal. Thepassion to compete and the reasons for acceptingthe challenge are found inside each athlete.Athletes often focus improvement effortsexternally to address performance equipment,physical fitness, performance techniques andmatch plans. However, an athlete must alsodirect attention inward because the catalystfor success lies within. In this article, we willexplore how looking within may help improveyour performance.What is Success?Webster’s Dictionary defines success as: “adegree or measure of succeeding” or “a favorableor desired outcome.” For an athlete, it isa subjective standard based on an individual orgroup’s evaluation of performance. But who definessuccess: the group or the individual athlete?Success is a subjective evaluation of performanceand should be based on an athlete’s goalsand self-image. For some athletes, success iswinning a medal during an international competition.For others, it is recognition as one ofthe greatest all-time competitors in his or hersport. Others believe it is achieving peak performancewithin time and resource constraints.Still others feel it is a measure of their ability toset a goal and achieve it. Your standard may differ.As a subjective standard, athletes should applytheir own criteria to evaluate the results oftheir performance. It is an inside job. However,without a destination, success is an elusive, everchangingtarget.Choose Your DestinationAs an athlete, you must have a vision, a destinationand a timetable to get there. Withoutit, success is difficult to measure. Where do yousee yourself at the end of the season or in fiveyears? What is the difference between your currentperformance, your expected performanceand your final destination? Is your timeframerealistic? Choosing a destination allows you toFrom the Editor Aim with AMU Inside the BlueOn the Firing Line Coaches’ Cornerform a plan to get there, set waypoints and makecourse corrections along the way. Look insideto determine the level of commitment you willneed to reach your destination.A destination should incorporate factorswithin an athlete’s span of control and not justfocus on an outcome. Outcomes (e.g., takinghome a medal, winning a club championship)may influence the perception of success but arenot conclusive evidence of success. For example,if an athlete sets a goal to win the NationalChampionship in his or her sport and fails, washe or she successful? What if the athlete postedhis or her top score in the final, set a Nationalrecord during the qualification rounds and stilllost? Is success tied to the medal? Because successis a subjective standard, athletes must carefullychoose a destination to avoid setting themselvesup for failure.Choose a destination linked to performance– something you can control – and let the matchdirector rank the performance of a group ofcompetitors. An athlete must define success bychoosing his or her own destination. Experiencewill help you make an informed decision.Value ExperienceSuccess comes from taking advantage of opportunitiesto gain experience before they arelost forever. It goes without saying, but athleteswill never go undefeated. Even the best areovercome at some point, but their experience– even in defeat – is invaluable for the athlete’sdevelopment. Greatness is not only a measureof actions in victory but also actions shownin defeat. Disappointment over a loss or poorperformance is understandable, but the actionsfollowing the event are the most important forlong-term improvement.Each athlete’s background includes a uniqueset of experiences to build upon. The challengeis to relate a past experience to a present opportunityand reach your peak performance. Whenyou reflect upon your earliest experiences inyour sport, what is different now? What did youlearn? Did you have to learn the same lessonmore than once? What did you learn from yourmost recent match or training session? Comparingand contrasting past experiences againstpresent opportunities is an important step to developingas an athlete – it can only happen whenyou look inside and reflect.The athlete who stands ready to competewhen it really counts and is able to apply his orher skills under pressure is usually the one whotook advantage of his or her unique set of opportunities.Training is over when the matchbegins. Scores are counted and head-to-headcompetition begins. What you bring to the lineis the sum of your experiences, good or bad.Your opportunity to learn is over because younow must perform. Experience is gained thisway, by embracing the opportunity to act andlearn even when the conditions are not perfect.After the match your opportunity to improvebegins again. If you failed, you must learn fromit.Leverage FailureFailure is not the enemy of success; it is theteacher of success. Failure to reach a goal doesnot mean an athlete is a failure. It may revealshortcomings in training, equipment or performancebut it is not an indictment on the individual.Athletes must balance growth in all areas oflife (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, recreationaland professional) and integrate withina larger society. In the end, far more athletes“fail to post the highest score” than actually losein life. Failure to reach a goal in a one area of lifedoes not paint the individual as a failure. Thisattitude is more than just an academic concept.It allows an athlete to use a setback as an improvementopportunity in order to learn fromhis or her failures and not internalize it as an attackon his or her character.A fundamental aspect of improvement isacknowledging the opportunity to fail. Avoidingfailure and focusing only on areas an athletedoes well is the surest way to perpetuate mediocrity.Athletes should seek new challenges asopportunities to learn rather than chances tofail. Embrace the chance to compete in a finalwith your heart trying to escape your body – atleast you will know you are alive. Unfortunately,fear of failure prevents many otherwise capableathletes from reaching peak performance. If asetback is the result of a failed attempt, reflecton the opportunity and dissect the experienceto learn what went wrong and what you did well.An athlete’s dedication to learn from his or herfailure is the one of the most valuable elementsof improvement and sustained performance.A trusted advisor and mentor may help anathlete put a setback in perspective. Athletesshould seek and value the advice, experienceand knowledge of strong, match-tested marksmanwhen dealing with setbacks. There is nosubstitute for hearing, “I’ve been there beforeand know what you are feeling. Let me tell you8 <strong>USA</strong> <strong>Shooting</strong> News
Columnswhat I did to overcome the challenge. Reflectingback on my experience, here is what I believewill help you succeed in the future.” Positivefeedback and focusing on improvement allowsan athlete to use failure to his or her advantage.Learn to evaluate your own performance andtry not to make the same mistake twice.From the Editor Aim with AMU Inside the BlueOn the Firing Line Coaches’ CornerBe the JudgeCompeting to meet another’s standards orexpectations is an impossible task and a perilousjourney. An athlete must set his or her own criteriafor success and resist the pressure to reachsomeone else’s goals. The athlete must judgehis or her own success and failure and set theconditions for improvement and flame the passionwithin to succeed. External inspiration ormotivation may influence an athlete but only heor she can internalize and take ownership of agoal. Passion, drive and determination are internalforces.Consider the following: Is an athlete whofails to win a championship during his or her careerunsuccessful? What if he or she sustains ahigh level of performance for years but performspoorly during a championship match when itmatters the most? What if the athlete consistentlyperforms above his or her peers but neverbecomes a champion? Which circumstance(s),if any, is a measure of success? Who gets tojudge? The answer depends on an athlete’s aspirationsand whether he or she reached his or herfull potential. Only the athlete knows if he orshe can pass the mirror test. Only he or she canjudge his or her own performance.Society judges athletes on the number ofchampionships and the tangible results theyproduce in competition. Anything less appearsto invite someone to conclude the athlete is unsuccessful.This standard assumes that championshipsare the sole indicators of success.Athletes may be lured into this flawed logic andbelieve the only path to success is whether he orshe is a champion in his or her sport. Success isbased on an athlete’s ability to achieve his or herown goals as only they understand the totality ofthe circumstances that influence his or her abilityto accomplish the goals.Championships and other awards are usefulto stratify the accomplishments among athleteswith comparable records but are not the exclusiveindicators of success. If so, organizationslike the Major League Baseball and NationalFootball League Halls of Fame would only includeathlete’s who won a championship in theirrespective sport. Objectively evaluate your ownperformance using the high standards you setfor yourself.One Final ShotWhile success is often difficult to quantify,choosing a destination, using your experienceto your advantage, leveraging failure to improveand judging your own performance helps anathlete define success. The ability to produce adesired outcome is the reason we compete. Successfulathletes make informed choices, use experience,learn from their mistakes and evaluatetheir performance to reach their full potential.Define success and achieve it. If all else fails, anathlete may always follow the advice of Americansatirist and comedian Stephen Colbert whoonce said, “If at first you don’t succeed, redefinewhat you did as success.”Until the next competition, the Air Force<strong>Shooting</strong> Team challenges each of you to seekimprovement from within to discover your ownpath to success and pursue excellence in allyou do. If you have any questions about the AirForce in general, please visit www.airforce.comfor more information.“Inside the Blue” is a running series that looksat international shooting sports from an Airman’sperspective. Senior Master Sgt. Julig is a memberof the Air Force International Trap Team and he ispresently assigned to Bolling Air Force Base in WashingtonD.C. The views expressed in this article, unlessotherwise indicated, are that of the individualauthor. They do not purport to express the views ofthe Department of the Air Force or any other departmentor agency of the U.S. Government.
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