For many years now, I’ve not been a fan of the NBA. Ever since Larry Bird retired, most of the teams seem to be completely reliant on the individual talent rather than the collective. The one evidence I see of team recognition is the alley-oop. Two players that recognize an opportunity at the same time and one sets the other up. The play requires three things: favorable circumstances, recognition of opportunity and decisive action.
In our own lives, success requires similar ingredients. However there usually aren’t seven foot tall defenders in our way. Most of the time, we are the only ones playing defense against ourselves. The world doesn’t stand in our way for many of the things that we want. The key is that we need to set ourselves up or enlist teammates to help set us up.
Take stock of the goals that you have and set up systems to make yourself successful. If your goal is to get in shape, put alarms on your phone and lay out your workout clothes the night before. Be sure not to overwhelm yourself by doing too much at once. Add a new aspect to your life no more than every two weeks. Drastic changes tend to create a recipe for failure because as soon as we drop one ball, we tend to let the others fall. Habits become automatic if we practice them enough. The habit of going to the gym can be built with the very simple action of showing up and doing simple things for 30 minutes. Once the habit of going to the gym is ingrained, adding more to the workouts is much easier.
Set yourself up for success, not failure. You’re only human. So keep it simple to start and then get more complex. Find or create favorable circumstances, recognize your opportunity and take decisive action. Even you won’t be able to stop yourself!
Huryk Unlimited 