Goals & Process
There’s a version of high standards that produces excellence. And there’s a version that produces anxiety.
They can look identical from the outside. Both involve high expectations, demanding preparation, and an unwillingness to accept less than the best. But the internal experience of the two is completely different. And the performance outcomes are too.
Read this passage slowly.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11 — NIVLet that sit for a second before you move.
A harvest of righteousness and peace. The endpoint of healthy discipline is peace — not anxiety, not fear, not the constant dread of falling short. The discipline is painful in the process and produces peace in the outcome. When discipline only produces more anxiety and never produces peace, something has gone wrong with how the standard is being held or how it’s being received.
The standard that elevates is held in a context of trust and development. The athlete understands why it exists, believes it’s achievable, and experiences the demand as an investment in their growth. They may not enjoy the difficulty, but they trust where it’s going.
The standard that crushes is experienced differently. It’s held over the athlete as a measure of their worth rather than a mechanism for their development. The failing to meet it results in shame rather than information. The athlete doesn’t believe the standard is achievable — they experience it as a permanent reminder of their inadequacy.
If the standard in this room is producing anxiety rather than excellence, the diagnostic question is: has the standard become about worth rather than development? Has failure to meet it become a verdict on the person rather than information about the performance?
The standard is worth holding. The context in which it’s held matters as much as the standard itself.
When discipline only produces anxiety and never produces peace, something has gone wrong with how the standard is held or how it’s received.
Is the standard in this room producing excellence or anxiety? What’s the evidence? What would need to change for it to produce the harvest rather than just the pain?
Diagnostic and honest. The answer may reveal a coaching culture issue as much as an athlete mindset issue.
The standard is worth holding. The context matters as much as the bar. Make sure both are right.
This devotional can surface important information about how the standard is being experienced by athletes. Create genuine safety for honest answers.