Merriam-Webster defines Significance as something that is “probably caused by something other than mere chance”
I remember being 23 years old and sitting in the audience at a seminar my boss was forcing me to attend at Saint Louis University. I had a lot of work on my plate as the Community Development Coordinator (it was a fancy title for Residence Hall Director), and I was confident I was going to be wasting an hour listening to yet another kumbaya talk on teamwork or communication or understanding the mind of a college student. I was young and impatient, and I went into this presentation with the worst possible attitude and expectation. While I don’t remember the speaker’s name or 99% of her presentation 25+ years later, I do remember the first sentence that came out of her mouth like I heard it yesterday.
“I want you all to remove the word SUCCESS from your vocabulary and replace it with the word SIGNIFICANT.”
The speaker went on to explain her reasoning. According to her, success was a simple concept. Any student could complete a paper for a homework assignment (success!), but very few people put the kind of effort into writing a paper that results in truly understanding the topic, inspiring the reader in some way, or changing the way the reader thinks about that topic.
As an aspiring basketball coach at the time, I immediately translated that philosophy to my sport.
Anyone can walk into a gym, throw a ball up in the air and make a basket—success! But if you put that same person in a gym with a defender in front of them and 2,000 fans in the stands, would they even be able to get a shot off? I wanted to teach my players how to master their craft and how to always be asking, “How can I remove mere chance or luck from the equation?”
Significance became an idea that I wanted every young person I encountered to have as a pillar in their growth and education. I knew the concept of significant living could and should translate to their academics, sports, relationships, future jobs, etc. Significance isn’t always just putting more effort into a task or following directions perfectly. Significance can mean taking on a task and learning how to do it more efficiently. It can mean taking a problem and thinking out of the box as to the possible solutions for that problem, or thinking about and seeing the problem from a unique perspective.
My hope for writing my book, Significant Recruiting: The Playbook for Prospective College Athletes, was to create a simple but significant process for every family with a student-athlete who has collegiate dreams, so they could be able to learn, adapt and implement their college recruitment on their own. My hope is to make you a master recruiter and the CEO of your journey!
Every parent is looking for an effective approach to help their child with their future. I am confident that Significant Recruiting will help all families accomplish their goals without having to invest 10,000 hours, 10,000 dollars or 10,000 sleepless nights.
Interested in Coach Rogers’ Book on College Recruiting? You can find it here: https://coachmattrogers.com/book/
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