INTRODUCTION: Have you ever heard any of the following sayings…. - “you get what you put in?” - "garbage in, garbage out" - "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing but expecting different results" - "The world is nothing more than just cause & effect" These are all quotes explaining the same universal principal that gets constantly ignored by athletes… that inputs = outputs. You must understand you live in world that is built on rules. Some rules can be broken, such as the laws of the government. Some can’t be broken, like the laws of physics. “Inputs = Outputs” is one of these unbreakable rules you must respect & integrate as an athlete. If you choose to ignore it you will be forever stuck in your development. STORYTIME: In Junior A I had two different roommates in one year. Let’s call them Thomas & Parker. Living with each of them was a wildly different experience. You see, I had my set routine fixed. I’d wake up and go to bed at the same time each day. I had my diet that a nutritionist provided that was perfect for high-level performance. I had my structured off-ice training plan for stickhandling, shooting, recovery and weight lifting. My goal was to train like a pro and I was consistently doing so each week. Both Thomas & Parker were the same kind of player when they joined the team. Both were 4th line guys, not getting much ice-time and not heavy contributors generating points & plays for the team. Parker was the first roommate. His routine was the exact opposite to mine. He stayed up late. Slept in. Rarely did anything extra outside our team practices besides playing Call of Duty. Ordered takeout frequently and drank routinely. Parker never played beyond the fourth line and was traded mid-season… for Thomas. Thomas appeared to be the same kind of guy when I first met him. The only two differences was that he played FIFA instead and didn’t drink booze or beer. But for the rest he still was pretty lazy outside team practices and had poor health habits.