Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #64: Gill1918 Presents Olympic Gold & Bronze Medalist DeeDee Trotter “Get Your Goals Right” Powered by Coach O

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#64: Gill1918 Presents Olympic Gold & Bronze Medalist DeeDee Trotter “Get Your Goals Right” Powered by Coach O · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  Welcome to the Gill 1918 Project, a podcast series by
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  coaches for coaches, powered by Gill Athletics.
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  Think of it as the Ted Talks of track and field coaching.
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  Short, insightful, and packed with valuable strategies to help
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  you grow as a coach. This episode is part of the
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  Youth and Beginner Series, brought to you by Coach O.
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  In this series, we focus on topics relating to coaching
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  youth athletes, coaching beginner athletes of any age,
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  and supporting brand new coaches as they find their way.
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  With that in mind, let's grow. Hi everybody.
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  This is Dee Dee Trotter, three time Olympian, Olympic gold and
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  bronze medalist in the sport of track and field.
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  I was the University of Tennessee 400 meter NCAA
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  champion. I was also 2007 USA 400 meter
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  champion. I am a two time USA 400 meter
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  Indoor champion and the University of Tennessee Hall of
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  Famer. This is an exciting opportunity
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  for me to share with you guys my take and my experience on what
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  is actually required to achieve your goals.
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  In the last 15 years I have worked very closely with
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  athletes of all ages and the number one question that I
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  always get can be summed up to how do you do it?
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  How did you reach your goals? And while this question comes in
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  a variety of of styles, you know, sometimes asking questions
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  like, oh, where do you, you know, what did you do when you
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  were in high school to get to college?
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  Or what did you do to from college to get to the pros?
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  But ultimately, that question can be summed up in one way.
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  How do you reach your goal? And I have some experience that
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  has allowed me to kind of formulate what I think is a
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  great strategy for most anybody to utilize in order to reach
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  their goals. The first thing you have to do
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  is have a goal. A lot of times people are so
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  vague with what they want to accomplish.
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  It becomes very difficult to focus, becomes very difficult to
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  make progress towards your goal when you don't really have it
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  defined. And then on the other hand, you
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  have some people that set a goal and it doesn't have any mile
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  markers along the way. You know, it's basically if they
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  don't get that goal in their first or second attempt, they
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  they kind of just give up on it or they lose confidence in being
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  able to achieve it. And then lastly, a lot of times
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  people don't actually know what it takes to get to their goal.
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  So they have a goal and it's just, you know, this imaginary
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  thing that you know, sits on their mind or in their desk or
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  even something they talk about. And at the end of the day, they
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  have no idea what it's actually going to take to achieve it or
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  execute it. And I see that probably more so
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  than anything else. An example of that would be
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  I've, I've run into several athletes who who say, yeah, I
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  want to go pro and track and field most, most of them have
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  been sprinters. And I say, great, OK, So what?
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  What time do you need to be to run to be competitive at the pro
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  level? And a lot of times they really
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  don't know the answer and say, OK, well, you got to know how
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  fast you have to run to get to that level.
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  Then there's also, I want to go to a certain college.
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  Yeah, I want to go to University of Tennessee.
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  I want to go to University of Florida.
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  I want to go to, you know, UGA got all these great goals, but
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  what does it take? What does it take academically?
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  What does it take to get a scholarship?
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  What time, what distance does it actually take to get to that,
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  that goal? And I see this disconnect more
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  so than any other disconnected athletes that desire to go to
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  another level or desire to achieve a goal do not often know
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  what it actually requires for them to do it, which makes it
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  very hard to make any progress towards achieving it.
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  That being said, I kind of want to talk about how to set your
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  goals properly, how to set the mile markers, how to start
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  making progress towards your goals because that's what it's
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  going to take. In order for a lot of young
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  athletes who are aspiring to go to the college level and go to
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  the professional level. It starts with having that goal.
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  It starts with having a target. So the first thing I want you to
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  do, if you're listening and if you're a parent, maybe write
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  this down or if you're and if you're an athlete, just go ahead
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  and grab a piece of paper and do it right now.
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  First things first, you got to know what the goal is.
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  For me, I want it to be the best 400m runner in the world.
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  Now notice I didn't say in the city, I didn't say in the state,
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  I didn't say in the country, I said the world.
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  The first thing you have to do is be unafraid to dream the
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  dream or set the goal that you actually really want for
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  yourself. Not something that feels safe.
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  Not something that feels easy and feasible and you're not
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  afraid to go after it. You need to dream the dream you
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  really want. If you're too afraid to actually
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  say what you want in your heart, to go for what it is you really
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  want, you're never going to get it.
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  It will always be a dream. It'll always be something that
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  you had in your imagination that would never come true unless you
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  get extremely lucky and somehow it falls in your lap, which
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  doesn't happen very often. So the first thing you need to
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  do is write down the goal. Write down the goal or the dream
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  that you really want and have in your heart and put it on a real
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  piece of paper. Then you're going to take that
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  piece of paper and put it somewhere that you have to see
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  it every day. Now I need to go back just a
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  moment and make sure that when you write this goal, you write
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  it in a way that means that it's already in a way that is
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  affirming what it is that you're trying to achieve.
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  You have to write it as if it's already done or that you already
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  believe it or it's already been accomplished.
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  So, for example, I wouldn't write I hope to be the best 400m
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  runner in the world. I would write I am the best 400m
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  runner in the world. You have to write it as if
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  you've already accomplished it. That's the first step into
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  believing it. So now that you've written down
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  your goal, I need you to put it somewhere that you have to see
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  it every day. It could be on your mirror,
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  which is a great place to put it.
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  It could be on your door. It can be on your wall, it can
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  be written multiple places. You can write it multiple times
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  and put it on your notebook or your desk or in your car if you
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  drive. It doesn't really matter.
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  You just need to put it somewhere that you see it every
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  day. And the more places you put it
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  and the more places you see it, the more it's going to start
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  encouraging you to believe it. The biggest part about this is
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  that you need to write it with your hand.
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  I know it's easy in this day and age to, you know, let AI
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  generate a poster for you or, you know, even type it on your
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  computer and print it out. But you actually need to write
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  it with your hand. And that way it becomes
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  something that came out of your mind, transferred from your hand
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  into a real object. At that point, once you've done
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  that, it's connecting you to the goal.
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  You've officially been connected to the goal after you've written
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  it one time. That's great.
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  The more you write it, the more you see it, the more you say it,
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  the more you believe it. So write it as many times as you
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  want, but at least one time. And then if you want to print it
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  out several times to have them around the place that you visit,
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  the places you visit the most, that's awesome.
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  Do that too, but one time with your hand.
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  The next thing you have to do, it starts saying what you wrote
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  down out loud, looking yourself in the mirror every day.
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  It's going to be hard because the hardest thing to do is tell
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  yourself that something is true that you really don't believe
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  yet. And some of you have probably
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  written goals that some people might laugh at or might say
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  that's never going to happen. Or you know that it's not
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  possible for you to do and you might feel uncomfortable with it
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  because you don't believe it yet.
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  But you can't worry about what other people think.
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  You can't worry about what other people might say right now.
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  The only chance you have of achieving your goal is to
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  believe it yourself. So regardless of what other
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  people might say, you need to look in that mirror every single
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  day and keep your eyes focused and tell yourself what you wrote
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  on the paper. For me, I looked at myself in
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  the mirror every day and I said I am the best 400m runner in the
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  world. I am the best 400m runner in the
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  world, I am the best 400m runner in the world.
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  I said it over and over again until I can focus my eyes and
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  not cut them away and I could look right through myself to the
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  point where I believed it. Then I would walk away.
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  This is something that will help you train your mind to believe
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  what you're saying and when you believe what you've said you're
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  going to do or who you're going to be.
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  It's very difficult for your life to not align or start
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  aligning with that goal being your reality.
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  The thing that people don't often realize in the process of
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  trying to get to their goals and the process of trying to get to
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  a point where they believe that what they are trying to achieve
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  is possible, is that when you don't get instant results or you
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  don't get results quickly, there's a certain amount of
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  patience that you have to have along this journey.
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  The patience that you need also is coupled with some
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  determination coupled with some never give up mentality.
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  It's it's more than just waiting.
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  You also have to make the sacrifices that are necessary
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  for you to achieve the goals. You also have to have the
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  mindset that no matter what happens, you're going to keep
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  going. You have to start with your mind
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  in that position. You have to start the journey
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  saying it's not going to be easy and I'm not going to give up.
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  You have to start the journey with that as the foundation of
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  how you plan to proceed because then when you get knocked down
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  or if things don't go as planned along the way, it doesn't take
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  you as long to process it. It doesn't take you as long to
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  get back up. It doesn't take you as long to
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  try to find a way to keep going. You've already put it in your
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  mind that you're not going to give up no matter what.
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  So I encourage you all to write down never give up with your
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  hand and put that right next to your goal and put it somewhere
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  you have to see it every day. These things are the
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  requirements, in my opinion, of setting yourself up for the best
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  possible opportunity to achieve your goal.
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  The next thing I would highlight as one of the key ways to get to
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  your goal is that now that you know what it is and now that
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  you've trained, you're training yourself to believe it.
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  You actually have to start making the sacrifices to get it
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  done. One of my pet peeves with a lot
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  of athletes that I've worked with along the way and some that
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  I just knew personally as teammates.
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  One of the things that frustrated me the most was that
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  sometimes they expected results and would get upset if they
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  didn't get them, but they weren't doing what they needed
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  to do to actually have earned it.
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  And I'm just going to keep it real with you guys.
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  You can't be eaten McDonald's burgers and staying all night
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  out partying and staying up till Lord knows what in the morning
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  playing Roblox or whatever game you have on your phone or iPads
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  and then expect to have all the things that you desire.
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  Doesn't work that way. And the best thing you can do,
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  hoped for in that situation is that your talent level just
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  supersedes everyone. Or you just get lucky and have a
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  good run or you have a good competition.
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  But at the end of the day, at some point, it's going to
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  require that you sacrifice, 'cause my motto is greatness has
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  a price and that price is sacrifice.
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  That is what I 100% believe. Greatness has a price and it
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  costs sacrifice. You're going to have to give up
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  something to get something. You're going to have to give in
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  order to receive. And in this case, when it comes
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  to accomplishing your goals, you're going to have to give.
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  Give up yourself, give up your time, give up your energy, give
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  up your dedication, give up your focus, give up your hard work in
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  order to receive. And it also plays a big part in
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  your confidence. A lot of times people go to the
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  starting line or into the competition with, I should say,
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  lacking confidence because in their mind, they know that they
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  really haven't done everything that they could have done to be
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  their best. They know that they cut corners
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  somewhere They and as long as they have that in their mind,
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  they're going to step on the line or be or step into the
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  competition with the mindset of I don't deserve to receive what
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  I'm setting out to do. I haven't done the right things.
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  I would walk on the line in 2012 with the confidence that I could
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  do exactly what I came there to do to be the best 400m runner in
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  the world. That was my goal and I would
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  walk on the line knowing that for that entire year, I gave it
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  everything. I had every practice, every day,
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  rain or shine, Didn't cut any corners, didn't miss the ice
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  bath, didn't miss the chiropractor, didn't miss
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  massage, went to church every Sunday and everything it's been
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  Bible study every Thursday. I had the confidence that I
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  deserved to receive what I had been working for every day
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  because I had made the sacrifice.
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  Give yourself the opportunity to win on the mental edge that
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  gives you a mental edge. I'm not saying other people
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  aren't going to come to the line with the same mentality because
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  that's the champion's mindset, but just know when you step on
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  the line, you can step on the line or step into your
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  competition with the mindset that you deserve to be there.
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  Now that you all know how to set a goal, now that you know how to
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  visualize or visually believe in that goal using visualization
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  and repetition, writing, listening, hearing, speaking the
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  goal over and over again is imperative to believing it.
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  Although belief is the primary key to achieving your goal and
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  hard work is the form of currency that it's going to take
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  in order to be able to afford it, the last thing you have to
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  know is that you're not always going to be able to control the
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  outcome of every situation, but you can always control your
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  output. A lot of times we'll go down a
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  road and we'll try our very best and we've sacrificed and we've
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  done everything we need to do and we may not get the gold
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  medal. I know that because that
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  happened to me in 2012. I would run in the 2012 Olympic
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  Games, I would get the bronze medal and I was in the lead at
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  the 100 at the last 100 meters of the 400 meter race.
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  A lot of people are often confused by when I say that this
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  is the best race of my career, and that's because it came after
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  three years of loss and failure following my knee surgery.
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  I had been working harder than I had ever worked in my entire
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  life to get that bronze medal and I would never look down at
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  it. I would never be disappointed
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  when I was giving my very best. I could not control the outcome
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  of the race, but I controlled giving it everything I had for
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  every step and I believed that I had earned the the results.
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  So the one thing you're going to have to do is have some thick
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  skin. If you don't get the outcome you
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  want, the first go round, second go round.
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  For me, this is my third Olympics, the third go round.
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  If you don't get the outcome you want, that doesn't mean it's
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  time to hang it up. If you don't like the results
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  and you're healthy enough and you have time.
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  And this applies across the board in life, not just in
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  sports. If you're healthy enough and you
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  have time, you can always turn your loss, your failures, and
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  your disappointments into the blueprint of what it's going to
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  take to succeed. Every time you lose, you have an
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  opportunity to learn. Every time you lose, you should
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  learn something from it, and those losses will create the
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  blueprint of what it's actually going to take to succeed.
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  Every lost race I've ever had taught me what I needed to know
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  to improve in order to get better.
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  And although in 2012 I would have liked to try to come back
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  again in 2016 and I did, my body got tired and I ran out of steam
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  and what would be an illustrious 13 year career again I said if
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  you have the health and you have the time.
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  I did not have the health so I could not again pursue a
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  different outcome. But a lot of times we can if we
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  just continue to push forward. Have thick skin, have short term
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  memory when it comes to losses and remember that loss only
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  lasts as long as it takes for you to get back up and try
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  again. Loss is a temporary sensation.
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  It comes and goes. The.
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  Loss that you feel temporarily can immediately be eliminated if
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  you get back up and try again. See, the only thing that lasts
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  longer than loss is regret. And if you don't try again, you
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  may look back 20 years later, 30 years later, maybe when you're a
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  grandma or grandpa and say, I wish I would have.
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  I could have if I had only tried again.
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  And regret can follow you all the way to your grave.
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  So I suggest that along your journey, you put into your mind
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  that you might fall, you might fail, you might get some scrapes
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  and bruises. But if you get back up and try
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  again, learn from your loss. Learn from your failures, learn
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  from your disappointments. You can figure out what it takes
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  to win. And that is the mentality of a
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  champion. A champion is really a person
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  that never gives up. A person that will fight for
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  their goals every day. A person that will push past the
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  loss, the failures and disappointments and use them as
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  the foundation of their success. Every person has this as a
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  capability. Every person can do this.
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  And when you realize that a champion is not just the person
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  that crosses the finish line first, you can win in life in
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  more than one way. Go into every competition with
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  the mindset of you can, you must, you will.
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  Thanks for listening guys. Best of luck this season and
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  always remember you can do it if you believe.
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  God bless. Please don't forget to check out
• 21:50
  my new book entitled I Can, I Must, I Will.
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  This book is available on Amazon.
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  It is a book of motivational quotes that I created throughout
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  the journey of my career. It is designed to encourage,
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  inspire, motivate and uplift you to get to your best self and to
• 22:12
  achieve your goals. So check it out.
• 22:14
  Thanks guys. Hey gang, Mike Cunningham here.
• 22:16
  Thanks for joining us for this episode in the Youth and
• 22:19
  beginner series Powered by Coach O Powered by Coach O is more
• 22:22
  than a platform. It's a movement to benefit track
• 22:24
  and field by supporting coaches, athletes, parents, officials and
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  event directors and countless ways.
• 22:31
  Find out more and get yourself plugged in to the Powered by
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  Coach O by visiting coacho.com today.