“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -- Aristotle

With the national championships across the NCAA under way, many student athletes' seasons are coming to an abrupt conclusion. Unprecedented performances by student athletes tend to be on full display during march madness, but behind all the flashy and impressive athletic features is countless hours of training and preparation. So you just finished a successful and fulfilling season of completing your goals. What is the next step?

Contrary to popular belief, taking a break from training and enjoying some time off is not the best answer for me. Everyone is different, but directly after championship season is the opportunity to get the best training in. In addition, training is extremely cathartic and I believe that every day I take off is a day that my competition is getting an edge on me. At the end of each season, I like to take the time to consider what I did well and what I can improve on for the season to come to ensure my progress as a person and as an athlete.

The quotation above explains championship season in a nutshell. Great performances on the big stage do not happen by coincidence. Countless sacrifice, hard work, pain, and determination all culminate in performance when it counts. That final game, race, play, or match is not a stroke of excellence, it is a display of excellent training throughout the season. Therefore, starting the moment after this season ends, I begin training for the next. To get that extra effort in while my competition takes time off gives me the edge to be that much more excellent when it counts.

I do not intend to let this national championship be my only one, this All-American achievement be my best or this season to be the peak of my career. Rather, this is just the beginning of a bright future that I cannot even predict. However, in the meantime, I can just listen to Aristotle and attempt to make excellence a habit.