The power of “One.” A lesson from future NFL athletes.

Leading up to its annual draft, the NFL holds a combine, inviting the top eligible prospects to showcase their skills and abilities to all 32 teams.

Recently, it has become a trend for some players to pick and choose which drills they will perform in Indianapolis (the site of the combine) and which they will save for their individual pro day, held at a later date on their own college campus. Reasons for this are likely to vary for each individual, however may be a result of wanting additional time to train and improve his skill set in one particular area of his game. For example, it is not uncommon for an athlete to perform the explosive/straight ahead drills (40 yard dash, vertical/broad jumps) at the combine and save the lateral/agility drills to perform at their pro day. The athlete then has about a month to do nothing but train on one specific thing to try and impress the scouts and improve his draft stock.

In your own private workspace, is there one particular area/skill that you know you could be working on, because one day you will be required to perform in front of others? These future NFL players are preparing for the biggest interview of their professional lives, and unlike most jobs they are required to perform their entire skillset during “the interview.” One can create a fancy resume and even land a job without having to perform all that is eventually required during ones career. One day however, your number will be called. Will you be ready? You must decide if you’re going to let today pass by knowing that tomorrow you might be asked to perform that one thing you don’t feel comfortable doing? Are you going to improve your own draft stock? The choice is yours.

Coach Nelson serves as a high school football coach who is pursuing his doctorate in Sport and Performance Psychology. He has worked for division 1 athletic departments, professional sport franchises, a Fortune 100 Company and has won numerous awards for his LEADership abilities. Most recently coach Nelson was hired as a trainer for the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) and as a mental performance coach for Mindurance.

His mission is to positively influence the world through Love, Effort, Attitude and Discipline (#LEAD). To learn more about the LEAD philosophy follow him on Twitter Levi Nelson or reach out via email at rln10@zips.uakron.edu He’d love to learn about or help you in your journey!

PCA: https://www.positivecoach.org/team/nelson-levi/

Mindurance: https://mindurance.com/viewAdvisor.asp?ic=51819&catID=