No Luck Needed: The Importance of Controlling Your Controllables

The phrase “I’d rather be lucky than good” gets thrown around a lot, usually as a way to explain outcomes we can’t fully control. And in sports, there’s some truth to that. Matches can turn on a bad call, a net cord, a weird bounce, or an opponent having an uncharacteristically great night. You can do everything right and still lose. You can play average and still win.

But building your mindset around luck is a losing strategy.

Volleyball—like life—is full of variables you don’t control: officiating, opponent performance, environment, momentum swings, even your own body on a given day. Those things are real, but they’re also distractions if you let them dictate your focus. The athletes who separate themselves are the ones who understand where their responsibility begins and ends.

Proverbs 25:28 says, “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” That’s not just a spiritual principle—it’s a competitive one. When you lose emotional control, you lose structure. When you lose structure, everything becomes reactive instead of intentional.

Composure isn’t passive. It’s trained. It shows up in how you respond to a missed serve, a bad call, or a run by the other team. It shows up in your body language, your communication, and your ability to reset without spiraling. That’s where discipline lives—not in perfect conditions, but in imperfect moments.

“Control your controllables” isn’t just a phrase to repeat—it’s a standard to live by. Your effort, your preparation, your attitude, your response—those are yours. Always. When athletes learn to anchor themselves in those things, they become harder to shake and more consistent over time.

You don’t need luck to compete at a high level. You need clarity, discipline, and the ability to stay steady when things don’t go your way.

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!