Getting In the Way of our Goals: Fear

“It is usually our fears that won’t allow us to access the answers that are already inside of our heart and mind.” -Hill Harper

So many things get in the way of us achieving our goals. Not enough time (Fear of hard-work). I don’t know how (Fear of learning). It’s not that important (Fear of what others think). I don’t need to do it (Fear of failure). I don’t want to look dumb (A combined fear of what others think and failure). The list goes on.

These are all excuses, and excuses project our fears. Fear is not natural. Fear is a copout, an easy way for us avoid commitment, pursuit of our desires, change, and, usually, failure. Who has succeeded without committing? Who has reached their desire without pursuing it? Who has reached a new level without changing what they do? And who has succeeded without failure?

Here are 4 simple things you can do to attack fear:

Wake up when you are supposed to

When the alarm goes off, get yourself out of bed. Hitting snooze, or sleeping in, allows our mind to escape the first task of the day. This sets the tone for the rest of the day.

Develop a morning routine

Getting ready for work in five minutes and flying out the door affects our mindset for the entire day. Find a way to start your day that allows you to mentally wake up. Try to include some morning time for personal development, visualization of your goals, or spiritual growth.

Identify your fears

Be conscious about your decisions throughout the day. If you find yourself rationalizing your fears, make a note of it. Find what is holding you back from becoming who you want to be.

Reflect

Don’t waste the day by allowing yourself to relive the same mistakes again. Think about what you did that got you closer to your goals, and what you did that limited your progress. Make a plan for how you will improve your shortcomings.

Using Failures to Find Success - Lessons From Senior Night

Coming off of a successful season as a junior, Taylor Mounts wanted more out of his senior season. He had earned Northwest Conference all-star honors, but had not propelled his team to a high level of play. For his last season as a Bearcat, he wanted not only to have another great season individually, but most importantly to get his team to the playoffs. He committed his off-season to working on skill development and overall conditioning, which included weight training, stair workouts, and hill sprints. He physically did more work to becoming a better athlete and player last summer than he previously had done his entire college career. He went all in on reaching his basketball goals. I was able to watch the Willamette University men’s basketball senior night, featuring Taylor Mounts. It was an inspiring performance with an ending that couldn’t have been more emotional. Taylor finished with 24 points, 7 rebound, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. The stat line was not the impressive part, however. It’s the process that Taylor took to get the senior night win.

Going in to senior night, Willamette had an overall record of 5-18 and was 3-11 in league. It was not the season Taylor had in mind when he was puking on the side of a quarter-mile hill during August. Their opponent, George Fox, was coming into the game with playoff hopes. At halftime, Willamette was down by eight, and Taylor was struggling with 7 points, shooting 3-9 from the field. With a season of continued losing behind him, it would be easy to coast through the 2nd half. But with the commitment Taylor made to improve as a player in the off-season and his “all-in” approach to maximize his potential as an athlete, he played the 2nd half like his season depended on it.

Taylor scored 17 points on 8-11 shooting with 7 rebounds in the 2nd half. He willed his team to overcome a 9-point deficit in the last 15 minutes. He scored the final 6 points for his team including a fadeaway jumper from the baseline that gave Willamette their first lead of the game with 6 seconds remaining. They had every opportunity to throw in the towel. Taylor’s leadership inspired his teammates, and his commitment to improvement inspired his will to win.

What I Learned on Senior Night…

The more you give, the more you resist failure

If you half-heartedly make an attempt at something, your failures along the way won’t be impactful. This leads to quitting. When you identify your goal, make sure that you a ready to go all in. Commit to achieving what you want to achieve. Then, when you have setbacks, you won’t quit. Those setbacks will motivate you to work harder and become more focused.

The more you commit, the more gratifying success will be

Willamette did not win a league title on senior night. But it was a win in front of the largest home crowd of the season during the last home game of Taylor’s career. The fact that he put all of his effort into becoming a better basketball player made that moment special. It was the chance for Taylor to produce results in front of the people who motivated him to commit to what he was doing. It wasn’t just a win, it was a celebration of achievement.

The more you care, the more you will commit

There’s nothing worse then trying to achieve something you do not care about. Make sure that you are reaching for something that inspires you. For anyone who has gone through a losing season, you know that each loss affects everyone in different ways. Some people (those who do not care about the team or sport) brush off each loss and find humor in the performance of their team. Others (the ones who are passionate about what they do), become eager to improve and perform better while inspiring their teammates to do the same.

Four C's to Maximize Your Potential

I originally wanted to write a quick blog to congratulate Jordan Carter of Corban University. But I began to think about what has made Jordan more successful on the basketball court than other recent Central Valley Conference all-league players. This past week, he was named Cascade Conference Player of the Week for the 2nd consecutive week. Jordan began working out with me in the summer of 2008. He was a good athlete, but not elite. He was a decent shooter, but not a pure shooter. He could dribble well, but was not a ball handler. He had the ability to score, but only had one move. However, his focus was not on being the best or scoring the most, but on maximizing his potential as a basketball player. Every drill was a competition against his last repetition. Each shot was a chance to improve his release. Since I first met Jordan in 2008, we have grown to become great friends. Getting to know him as a person helped me understand his values and his goals. Here are four C’s I have observed Jordan doing in order to maximize his potential.

Consistency

Darren Hardy defines “The Compound Effect” as “small, simple choices + consistency + time = your desired level of success.” Everything that Jordan does is consistent. From his time commitment to his improvement as a player and athlete to his effort he gives in each drill. Most importantly, his attitude and mindset are both consistent as well. Developing consistent attendance and participation with consistent physical effort and mental focus will help you maximize your potential. This is the underlying factor towards fulfilling your potential.

Coachability

When I first met Jordan in the gym, he was coming off of a year in which he started as a Sophomore on a 2nd-place team and was named first team all-Central Valley Conference. His coach was one year removed from being named CVC Coach of the Year, and I was one year removed from college with a single year of assistant coaching experience. I did not expect Jordan to be as willing to listen to my instructions as he was. Every time I corrected something, he fixed it without any questions asked. If you go through your journey thinking you can figure everything out on your own, you are setting yourself up for failure. Admitting you do not know everything takes courage, but will also help you develop skills and ideas you never knew existed. Learn from others and take advice from people who have been where you want to be.

Community

Jordan’s main concern as his high school basketball career was coming to an end was not in trophies, records, or wins. He was focused on leaving a legacy within the basketball program that would last well beyond his graduation. One of the ways he worked towards this was by working with the younger players in the off-season. He passed on knowledge that was shared with him by his coaches in order to imprint his personal values on the program. Chauncey Billups credits former teammate Sam Mitchell for the best advice he was ever given: “Help the player on your right, help the player on your left, and the one who benefits the most is the one in the middle.” Sharing what you have learned is a great way to spark creativity and develop new thoughts towards achieving your goal. Not only is community about who you are sharing knowledge with, but also who you are surrounding yourself with. Jordan's inner-circle consisted of people like him who were hard-workers and had good character. Kyle Morrow, CEO of ThirstTees, says the number one lesson of how to be successful is that you are constantly becoming the average of the five people you are closest with. Surround yourself with people who are working towards maximizing their potential. A constant exchange of ideas and a strong system of accountability will push you beyond what you ever expected.

Courage

There were so many times when Jordan was working out that you could tell he was exhausted, physically uncomfortable, and ready to call it a day. But he found a way to escape his comfort zone, push through the physical pain and mental block, and finish his job. Naturally, it is scary to push yourself when you are out of breath or your legs feel like giving in. However, if you never leave your comfort zone, you are never going to move forward. Staying comfortable holds back progress. Going outside of your comfort zone brings new levels of achievement. Allow yourself to be put into a position to achieve more than you desire.

Finding Inspiration to Gain Motivation

If you are motivated, then eating clean and developing a consistent exercise plan is not difficult at all. When we are focused on attaining a specific goal for a purpose we have decided is a priority to us, we will be willing to do anything to reach it. We will stay disciplined, evaluate our progress, and commit to improvement. The hard part is finding that motivation to drive us to stay focused. So many people say that they want a better body, or they want to be more toned/cut/lean. Then, when the advice comes and they realize that it will take commitment and dedication, they decide that it is not worth it. Sure, they want a better body, but they have no real reason to be motivated. Only a small percentage of people can truly be motivated by what they see in the mirror. Most people need something else.

Like I said in The Story of Dynamic Player Development and The Story of Dynamic Fitness, my motivation was found in my desire to be the best basketball player I could be. I gained discipline in eating productively and developed a work ethic towards improving my fitness. While I no longer play basketball, the habits stuck with me because I was, and still currently am, realizing the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

So how do we find what motivates us? It can be very difficult. There are extrinsic things that can motivate us, like signing up for a triathlon or gearing up for a vacation to Hawaii and making sure you look good on the beach. These can work initially, but you still need to find a way to make sure you are living a healthy lifestyle once that event passes. My extrinsic goal was to become a better basketball player. Once I stopped playing, I gained intrinsic motivation because of the benefits I felt from living healthy.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” -Albert Einstein

Intrinsic motivation is self-made. Only each individual can find what motivates them intrinsically. If you are struggling to find motivation intrinsically, yet you desire a change in your fitness and health, you need to change your daily habits (and I’m not just talking nutrition and exercise). I’m talking about changing your routine to open yourself up to inspiration and allow yourself to be motivated. It can be drastic (example, exchanging your 2-hour evening TV session for a reading session), or it can be small (watching an educational show instead of a MTV Made re-run). Most importantly, it needs to be something different than what you’re used to.

Think about what you do, and commit yourself to finding one thing you can change this week. Cook a whole-food breakfast instead of having cereal. Follow someone on Twitter who posts meaningful thoughts (try @alanstein) instead of brainless ignorance (like @whiteboytatted). Read an article on personal development instead of story explaining why Kim K really got divorced. Take this week to start finding inspiration that will spark you to become intrinsically motivated to living a healthy lifestyle.

Become an S.O.B. Person

Let me tell you a story about John. Through what he did yesterday, from talking with one of my friends about it, and from watching the video I have posted below, he has defined what an S.O.B. (Shortness of Breath) person is.

Eric Thomas Speech

John plays JV basketball at the school I coach at. He was invited to his first varsity practice yesterday as a reward for being exactly what we look for in a player. During a competitive drill, his team, the green team, lost and was forced to run a set of eight (sprinting from sideline-to-sideline eight times). In his first varsity practice, John beat every varsity player on the green team that ran with him.

Questioning how a JV player would beat half of the varsity team, how a JV player would outwork varsity players, coach put the remaining players, the white team, who did not run on the line. Along with John (remember, he just finished sprinting). John beat four out of the seven players on the white team. Coach quickly put the green team back on the line. Along with John. This time every member of the green team beat him (remember, he just finished sprinting two sets of eight). Coach put the members of the white team who lost to John in the sprint back on the line. Along with John. This time they beat him (remember, he just sprinted three sets of eight with no rest).

When John finished, he was experiencing a severe asthma attack. He was going through the shortness of breath that Eric Thomas talks about in the video clip (around 2:20). After he recovered from his attack, my friend talked to John about the sprints. John said that he didn’t care if it was his fist time with the varsity, he was going to beat everybody. He ended up not being able to breathe. He wanted to succeed more than he wanted to breathe. After the four sprints, he had worked to the point where he only remembered running the first two. He worked to the point where he experienced shortness of breath, and then he kept working. He exceeded his expectations by this. (S.O.B. person)

“When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, that’s when you’ll be successful.” -Eric Thomas

In order to maximize our potential, we have to be willing to work though uncomfortable situations. We have to be committed enough to do things that we do not want to do and go beyond our comfort zone. If we stay in our comfort zone, we will never get to the point of shortness of breath. When we get outside our comfort level and work beyond what anyone that we were capable of, we become S.O.B. people. Don’t stop working when you’re only waist deep. To reach your potential, you have to get your head under water.

New Year's Resolutions

“Success comes to those who have an entire mountain of gold that they continually mine, not those who find one nugget and try to live on it for fifty years.” -John C. Maxwell

New Year’s resolutions are often criticized. Most often, they should be. Inspired for the first part of January, we look forward to our new goal. Soon we hit a wall, and realize that we are living the exact same way we were living a few weeks ago. We get comfortable, and our resolution waits until next year. Our next thought: why did I even try? I’m offering a new look at a resolution. Most resolutions look something like, “I’m going to lose 10 pounds.” But what comes next? Even if you reach the 10 pounds, what comes next? Instead of a short-term goal that lasts, at most, a month, we should be shooting for a resolution that will stick with us our whole life. Imagine adding one new characteristic, skill, or element to your life every year. Think of the things you could accomplish. Rather than wanting to lose 10 pounds, dedicate the year to developing a healthy lifestyle that will last for a lifetime. I guarantee, if you are out of shape, you will lose the 10 pounds you wanted to lose. If you have a hard time with sticking with goals, you can start with something small. Maybe you’re inactive and spend too much time watching TV. You can start by limiting your TV time by 30 minutes per day. In that time, you could do something much more meaningful and fulfilling than watching a re-run of Seinfeld. If you think of yourself as well-disciplined, shoot for something bigger. Maybe take a year to learn a new language. Find something that will drive you to succeed. Also, make sure that you do not try to succeed on your own. Find the people in your life that will support you and keep you accountable. So many great ideas have never developed because they were too daunting for one person to take on. Tell the people that you know will keep you on track. Expand what you know. Think about what you have always wanted to accomplish, and work towards it. You may not be able to give up your life to become a full-time actor (if that’s your passion), but it might be possible to sign up for a local acting class. We were meant to be productive, we were meant to inspire ourselves and others. Fulfill your passions. Keep gaining knowledge.