Especially when their time with you is finished.
“I don’t judge my success as a coach by how many of my athletes turn pro.
I judge it by how many of them go on to be highly productive members of society, who are still training and leveraging value from lessons when their time with me is finished.
Most certainly not because of me, but because of them, i’m batting damn near 1000.
Long term value >.”
-Ray Zingler on Threads
It feels like just yesterday I got started, but now that I am training kids who weren’t yet born when I started Zingler Strength, the universe is proving to me that time does indeed fly when you’re having fun.
I use data & analytics to drive (and tangibly prove) favorable outcomes for our kids. I have a variety of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) that I use to help guide my decision making.
It’s fairly simple, “if this works well, do more of it, if this doesn’t work well, get rid of it.”
But how do I judge my own success?
You would probably assume I could use my growth rate/income as a tangible metric or how many athletes I have that go on to play sports professionally, but I don’t use either of those metrics.
Not only do I not use worldly standards of wealth to justify my success (I believe wealth is defined not by how much you make/have, but how much you give away), the “end goal” of my program is not rooted in seeing every single kid go on to play professional sports.
So how can I track my success in a meaningful way? A way that proves that I am succeeding in my mission? It’s far deeper than dollars & cents or Pro contracts.
I judge my success by how many of my kids move on from my program and go on to be highly successful, productive members of society after their time with me is finished.
How many of them are still training? Making good decisions? Serving others well?
That’s how I judge it.
Do I take all the credit for there successes? 100% no.
Are they perfect people? Nope.
But after a decade+, training cycles of kids, knowing them at 18 and seeing them at 28 here’s what I’ve found out.
Those who invested in our program for the long haul, those who bought into the process, those who didn’t make excuses, those who consistently chose “do” instead of “not do” are winning.
At rate of about 100%.
They are climbing in their personal and professional lives. They are team leaders, business owners, CEO’s. They are financial advisors, investment bankers. They are medical professionals and coaches, too.
THEY are winners. That’s how I measure MY success.
