University of Alabama football coach Nicholas Lou Saban Jr doesn’t place much emphasis on his team’s end result – which is surprising for someone who over his career has been so used to success.

Rather, Coach Saban tells his players that they need, simply, to focus on the process … on the getting there.

“Don’t think about the national championship. Think about what you needed to do in this drill, on this play, in this moment. That’s the process: let’s think about what we can do today, the task at hand.”

It’s an interesting perspective that I’m still reflecting on (in a good way).  In summary, Nick Saban’s ideas include:

• Control the process.  The process is about staying put in the here and now; excellence comes through a series of steps.
• It’s your inner scoreboard that counts – yes, you might have won, achieved, had success … but is the result congruent with how you got there?  Did you really try your best?  Did you put in enough effort?  Are you happy with yourself?
• Keep moving … don’t stop once you’ve ticked off all those goals, and don’t become so focused on your goal that you lose sight of what you need do, right here, right now.
• Trust the process . . . learn to focus on what you can control, and accept what you can’t.

Sounds like winning advice.