“Complacency is a blatant disregard for what is right.”  – Nick Saban, Alabama football coach.

There is a three-part video series on Alabama football on an app called Athletic.

I’m a fan of Coach Saban’s program and the approach he brings to things.  He has a staff member in charge of the health and performance of his players.

Turns out each player wears a sensor which records each player’s physical effort in the course of practice or a game.

Last year, Alabama lost in its bid for the national championship.  Clemson roundly trounced them.  When measuring the performance of the players, the sensors indicated that the Alabama players’ effort was 10-15% below the peak performance achieved during the regular season.

When asked about it, Saban noted that the team practiced that way going into the game as well.

He was a bit testy when he made the quote:

“Complacency is a blatant disregard for what is right.”

Saban said he felt responsible and was embarrassed by the shortfall.  You can tell he will be working on ways to battle complacency in the future.

How about you?  Do you fight complacency?

This anecdote reminds me of the soul searching that is necessary when being intentional in life.

We don’t put a sensor on you.  You’re the one who knows if you give your best.  You’re the one who knows if you take a shortcut.

Complacency is a natural reaction after you have put on a sustained effort to get better results.  It’s easy to think you’ve arrived.

But tomorrow may require more of the same.  Tomorrow won’t allow us to celebrate indefinitely.  To maintain a high level of performance requires focus, intention and sustained effort.

Without those things the consequences will be undesirable.