In the play "No Exit" by Jean-Paul Sartre, some people are trapped in a metaphysical, self-imposed hell - one room, no windows, crowded together and not able to leave. After they had spent much time here, a door opened and they were free to go. However, they remained because the unknown was too risky and filled with perceived danger. They had become comfortable with the status quo (horrendous lives) and lacked the courage to experience something much better.
This story is a perfect metaphor for many of your athletes or workers who have become comfortable with the status quo of their competitive efforts. Frequent encounters with danger and taking risks are presented to you in sport and other arenas of life. As a coach and leader, make those whom you lead, become more often aware that taking on such encounters makes you inwardly strong...instilling in you a profound awareness of life...bringing new meaning and richness to your experience. In a word, taking risks makes you feel ALIVE as they invariably lead to significant breakthroughs in your sport as well as all of life. There is a risk to not risking...think about how this applies to all of life.
Let this paragraph set the tone for a new attitude toward how you coach/lead and how your athletes compete and why. The greatest "highs" in athletics have usually been the by-product of the courage you exhibit when you take the calculated risks to improve. Naturally, there are the failures and setbacks experienced when taking risks yet even they become your teachers as you learn from them, how to become more proficient at what you do.
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