Control The Controllables

📰 COLLEGIATE ELITES WEEKLY

Issue 072 — October 27, 2026

As an athlete, things aren’t always going to go your way.

You might not get the playing time you want. Your teammates might not bring the same energy you do. Your coach might make a decision you disagree with.

It’s easy to get frustrated when circumstances aren’t what you’d like them to be. But spending your energy worrying about things outside your control doesn’t help you move forward.

Instead, focus on what you can influence.

Your effort. Your attitude. Your preparation. How you respond when things get difficult.

These are the things you can control, regardless of what’s happening around you.

💪 CONTROL YOUR EFFORT

Some practices will be harder than others.
Some workouts won’t go as planned.
There will be days when you simply don’t feel your best.

But your effort shouldn’t depend on whether the circumstances are ideal.

Compete through the difficult reps, stay engaged when you’re tired, and make the choice to bring your best effort to every opportunity.

You can’t control the effort of those around you, but you can control your own.

Hold yourself to a high standard, regardless of the effort others bring.

🧠 CONTROL YOUR RESPONSE

Not everything in sports is going to feel fair, and things won’t always go your way.

You might get taken out of a game when you feel like you’re playing well. You might make a mistake at an important moment. A referee might make a call you don’t agree with.

It’s natural to feel frustrated or disappointed when these things happen.

But what matters is what you do next.

You can let a mistake distract you from the next play, or you can refocus and stay engaged.

You can get frustrated with a decision you disagree with, or you can shift your attention back to what you can do to help your team.

You don’t have to ignore your emotions or pretend everything is fine.

Instead, recognize how you’re feeling, refocus on what you can control, and decide what you’re going to do next.

🎯 CONTROL YOUR PREPARATION

There are a lot of things that influence your development, but how you prepare is one of the things you have the most control over.

You decide how you approach practice, what you focus on during training, and how you use your time outside of competition.

Are you showing up to practice ready to compete?
Are you putting in the work to develop the skills you need?
Are you making the most of the time you have to improve?

You can’t control every opportunity that comes your way, but you can control how prepared you are when it arrives.

The work you put in today will determine how prepared you’ll be when the opportunity comes.

Focus on preparing for the opportunities you want, then go get them.

💭 FINAL THOUGHT

There will always be things outside your control.

The decisions coaches make. The performance of your teammates. The competition you face.  

But you don’t need everything to go your way to keep getting better.

You can still bring effort, prepare with intention, respond to challenges, and hold yourself to a high standard.

The next time something doesn’t go your way, ask yourself:

What can I control right now?

Then put your energy there.

Be Elite.

✅ TAKE ACTION

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