One of the hardest task to accomplish is to ensure your team remains focused throughout the season. It is extremely easier to motivate and inspire your team when they are winning, but how do you keep a team corralled when it seems like your goals are slipping away from you each week?

I vividly remember my first semester at Michigan State. Our team had very lofty goals, but our team chemistry was off, which resulted in us going 4-8 after starting the season 3-0. It was evident that our team did not remain focused and we allowed success to get the best of us. Here are some tips I learned that will help keep your team pulling together during its darkest hour:

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1. Reiterate goals

It is imperative that the team continues to focus on the goals that are still attainable. Goals are what drives us because they normally yield returns and keep us motivated. Many of my coaches would give us goals sheets on a weekly basis, so we could envision what we wanted to achieve on Saturday and keep breathing life into our situation.

Once you stop believing in yourself, it will trickle down and will manifest within your locker room. True character is on full display when adversity appears. Always remember your purpose and the rest will take care of itself.

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2. Expectations

Setting expectations are vitally important for a program to remain focused because it provides a foundation/standard for you to follow each day. Our team mantra while I was in college was effort, toughness, and knowledge. I have learned to apply these principles in my own personal journey, too.

If you give your best and remain firm through tough situations, and learn from critical moments, you will only continue to get better over time. Remember your team expectations when the road that was smoothly paved endures potholes, (disappointments) cracks, (defeat) and unfamiliar territory (dissension) within your locker room.

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3. Prepare with the end in mind

We envision on a daily basis how we’re going to leave our legacy on our program. Even though that championship goal is no longer in your grasp. However, you can still make the playoffs and shock the world by finishing strong to preserve your own legacy.

Preparing with the end in mind will equip you with the necessary tools to keep fighting for respect, honor, and upholding your team’s legacy for years to come. You have two choices: Preserve your season and uphold your legacy, or lay down and be remembered as the team that did not remain focused or display heart. Keep in the end in mind, and your team will still have a successful year for future teams to continue to build on.

Work hard. Be great.

Ashton Henderson was a four-year letterman at defensive back for Michigan State University as well as an honor student and co-author with former teammate Travis Key of “Beyond The Gridiron: How to successfully transition into collegiate football,” a detailed account of what it takes to be a Division I college football player and successful in life. To learn more about their mission and purchase your copy today, visit: www.beyondthegridironllc.com

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