Jay Shaw argues that trophies come after you become a champion, not before. Champion status builds through adopting a champion's thoughts, expectations, and self-talk. Once you internalize that identity, the behaviors follow naturally: showing up early, staying late.
You don't get the trophy and then become a champion. What happens is you become a champion. You become— well, Coach, how do I become a champion if I don't got a trophy yet? Oh, I'm glad you asked. You start thinking about what champions think about. You start expecting what champions expect. You start paying attention to what champions pay attention to. You start ignoring what champions ignore. You're talking to yourself the way that only a champion would talk to itself. You start giving birth to expectations that only a champion would give birth to. Yeah. And as you start doing that, as you start running that identity of champion, you're gonna accidentally— listen to what I'm saying— you're going to accidentally start showing up to practice early and leaving practice late, because that's what the hell champions do.
