Kristin Ihle Helledy shares insights with high school and collegiate student-athletes about the keys to success. In this segment, she shares her perspective on the value of self-discipline and integrity as key ingredients for success.
“Everyone has a story,” says Ihle. “When you see successful people in sport, the performing arts, or the world of work, you see the fruits of their labors. What you don’t see is that it wasn’t a straight line. There were setbacks and significant mistakes along the way — all of which contributed to the successful person you see.”
Self-Discipline
One of the things all athletes have control over is their effort and the consistency of that effort. It is important to “show up” at practice rather than “mail it in,” so to speak. Ihle Helledy encourages, “Give what you have on every given day and yes, we need physical and mental days off to recoup. All I am saying is, be intentional about it.”
Ihle Helledy continues: “Aristotle once said, ‘We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit.’ In high school as a track athlete, I had to decide if I was going to get serious or get out of shape. So I stopped thinking my coach was crazy for asking me to do before-school runs. I realized he was helping me build a habit, one that would show up throughout the rest of my athletic career.”
As you prepare on your own journey to success ask yourself
- Where did you make the commitment toward self-discipline?
- What will that look like in the next chapter of your life?
Integrity
We often hear the word integrity, and likely are faced daily with moral decisions. Perhaps Thomas Jefferson’s statement distills the essence of integrity: “Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.”
Ihle Helledy muses that she shares that sentiment with her two sons today, both of whom desire to play college hockey. She’s had her fair share of tough decisions to make, and the first one happened in the fall of her sophomore year of high school.
She tells us, “I was 15 when I violated athletic code. The coach knew some people on the team had violated code but [it was] hard to pin down. I called the next day to turn myself in. I was suspended for nearly the entire season. I could have gotten away with it — but I could not have lived with myself.” She was able to come back in time to compete in, and win, the state cross-country meet, and did so with a clear conscience.
Making mistakes and bad decisions are part of the game: It’s how we learn. Nelson Mandela captured this to a T when he said, “Do not judge me by my successes; judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
As you consider integrity in your development, Ihle Helledy encourages us to consider:
- When have you had to do the right thing even though it may have come at a cost to you or your team? What did you learn through that experience?
We can see how self-discipline and integrity were a key factor in shaping Ihle Helledy’s experience and furthermore, essential to her growth.
