Grind-It-Out Determination Always Beats Amped Motivation
BreakAway Data CEO Dave Anderson played six NFL seasons. His best advice for athletes: Fall in love with the mundane and become great at the unspectacular.
By Dave Anderson
I was never one of those athletes growing up who told my mom I was going to buy her a car when I made it big someday. My ambitions were always just one year ahead of me—mostly because I had no idea how to navigate the big picture of big-time sports.
That all changed prior to my sophomore season at Colorado State. I had been one of two freshmen to play upon arriving in Fort Collins, and the following spring there was a starting job up for grabs at my position, wide receiver. Our X (the primary WR) had left for the NFL, and everyone assumed our Z would move to X and I would become Z. But I had other plans.
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During our third practice that spring, I went 4-for-4 during 1-on-1 drills and they weren't even close. On film, I was even more open than I had thought. I knew then that I was going to crack the starting lineup. But I didn’t know my entire perspective was about to shift. My coach, Matt Lubick, casually said during our WR film session, “Do this every practice and you won’t just start here, you’ll start in the NFL.”
Wait, that’s it? That’s the secret?
Suddenly, it all clicked for me. One-on-one drills are where you show your stuff. It’s the drill that gets you 7-on-7 reps, which gets you team reps, which gets you game snaps, which gets you starts, which can open the door to the next level. I knew if I consistently won my 1-on-1 battles they couldn’t keep me off the field.
When athletes commit themselves to consistent, winning habits, their focus turns from “let’s see what happens” to “I know where I’m taking this and I know how to get there.” It’s why I co-founded BreakAway, to give athletes a road map with their own performance data.
I tracked every 1-on-1 rep from that day on. At first, I tracked wins and losses. Then I tracked my opponent, then the day of the week, then the route, then the QB, then the release, then a catch score, and finally style points. My own system allowed me to follow my progress and make minor adjustments to perfect my craft. I knew which routes I had to work on in the off-season; I knew which releases I needed to work on to get off the line; I knew the days I had to dig a little deeper to get my ass in gear (Thursdays). Tracking 1-on-1s kept my focus sharp, made me hold myself accountable, and exposed me to the power of consistency.
Vince Lombardi most famously described both winning and losing as a habit, and Tony Robbins preaches it more than anyone: “It’s not what we do once and awhile that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.” The most accomplished superstars in sports fall in love with the mundane because they know success has nothing to do with motivation and everything to do with grind-it-out determination.
I co-founded BreakAway because I wish I’d had this kind of athlete app and access to my performance data when I was a player. If you’re an athlete, my best advice is to become great at all the unspectacular things that make up 90% of your craft—the little things that fans don’t notice but put you in the best position every day. Doing that makes the other 10%—the eye-popping highlights—come naturally. For coaches, my best advice is to make sure your players know what’s possible when they commit themselves to consistent, winning habits. It’ll turn their focus from “let’s see what happens” to “I know where I’m taking this and I know how to get there.”
I often wonder what direction my career would have taken had my coach said something else during that film session. I’m grateful I’ll never know.
(And, if you’re wondering, I ended up buying my mom a car.)
Question? Comment? Want to chat? You can reach me at dave@breakawaydata.com