Growing up in my youth, I was someone who was into sports. As someone who desired to play Division 1 basketball, one thing I had to do was get up early and train. Getting up in the morning was something I did not appreciate doing. However, I remember getting up at 5:00 a.m. and going to the gym to work out with one of my coaches. As a part of these sessions, we would do all kinds of drills, whether shooting drills, low post drills, etc. Moreover, there were times when I would mess up, miss the shot and start all over again. I can still hear my coach at the time saying, "Tyrone do it again, go harder, change it up and finish the play."
As I reminisce about my high school days, these four words remain true when we want any increase or success. We must do it again, go harder, change it up and finish the play.
Do it again.
When my coach would tell me to do it again, often at that moment, I felt like giving up. I didn't want to do it again. I usually did not want to shoot that last free-throw or run that last lap. However, at that moment is when I had to realize to get rid of my excuse. It was that excuse that was hindering me from getting better. So, if I wanted to get better, I had to do it again. It is the same with life. There are many times in life where we must do it again. For some, doing it again may look different than others. However, if we want to live the life we are supposed to live, we must be willing to do it again. This may mean that we must go back to school and do it again. We may have to do it again because we never completed school or even dropped out. For others, it may mean that we do it again and go back to college because we are looking to work in a new field that requires us to go back to school. And for some, doing it again means starting a new job or a new business. Whatever the case, it may seem like we are starting from square one. For some people, the thought of starting from square one may frighten us or cause us to feel embarrassed. However, we must not let the feeling of embarrassment or fear stop us. It is in doing it again that we learn what it takes to go to the next level. Furthermore, when we get to the next level, we are back at square one of that new level anyway.
2. Go harder.
By stating, "Go harder," I had to attack the drill as if it was in the game. The saying says, "You practice as you play." If you are not going hard, it is more likely that you will either mess up and turn the ball over, injure yourself and have a greater possibility of losing the game. In essence, when my coach told me to go harder, he meant that I had to focus. I had to concentrate by channeling my energy and attack the drill as if it was in a game. It is that way in life as well. If we want to live the life we are supposed to live, we must go harder and focus.
For some of us, we may need to go hard by setting our priorities. What are your priorities in life? If we want to live the life we are supposed to live, we must prioritize our business. What do I mean by prioritizing our business? The company I am talking about is the one you are working on, which concerns your spirituality, family, physical wellness, and financial wellness. It is the business of your life. It focuses on your role and what you can control. When we focus on our role, we can become effective in what we do and achieve the results we want to achieve. When we are not focused, we get distracted and into everyone else's business except our own. To focus, we need to spend less time on social media or watching entertainment and be more intentional about reading books or going to seminars and working on our business.
3. Change it up.
What does it mean to change it up? In sports, changing it up can mean a lot of things. It could mean a change of lineup, which is the players that are out on the floor at a time. It can also mean a change of game plan, which was the coach's strategy to win the game. It also refers to a counter move designed to catch the defense off guard. Whatever the case may be, the ability to change it up made it less predictable for the opposing team. It is the same thing with life and our success; we must be unpredictable and be willing to change it up. Like sports, many of us need to change it up. We need to change our starting five up in terms of the people we put ourselves around. We may need to change up our game plan, and we may need to develop a counter move.
A. Change up the lineup.
What does it mean to "change up the lineup?" This refers to those who influence our lives. We all need people that can challenge us, support us, and people that we can mentor and bring up. Who are the people who are challenging you? These people can come in the form of a mentor or teacher. They are where you desire to be. They are like a coach; they are there to push you and challenge you to get better. Then there are also your teammates or people who are on the same level as you. These should be people who sharpen you. They are there to encourage you and support you and your dreams. And then there are those who you are bringing up. Who is looking up to you? Who are you influencing? If our core relationships do not consist of these, we need to evaluate our lineup.
B. Change the game plan.
There is a saying that says, "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Although we mentioned doing it again earlier, "doing it again" does not always mean doing it the same way. Changing the game plan refers to the way we do things. If we go to the next level and live the life we are supposed to live, we need to change our strategy from time to time. For me, I had to change my strategy and learn how to market better. Marketing is something that I am continually learning. I realized that I had to learn how to surround myself with business-minded people who know how to sell their products. By putting myself around them, I can listen and understand their ways and how they market themselves. They knew how to position themselves for success and always be aware of what was going on. I had to listen to their marketing strategies and act on them. By changing the game plan, I developed techniques to succeed in the areas I want to succeed in.
C. Develop a counter move.
Just as a counter move creates space in basketball, a counter move provides a way out when it comes to your success. It is a plan B. Although we all desire for our plan A to work, sometimes having that counter move is necessary. In basketball, the objective is to score the hoop. When the opposing team stops your initial action, you must remember that the play is not over; you can go to your counter move and score the hoop. It is at the same time with our success. Sometimes we may not get that promotion or get a loan from the bank for our business. What is your counter move? Many people stop right there, while others go to their counter move because they know they are not out of the game. Maybe their counter move is to talk to other banks they know and see if they offer a better rate. Perhaps it is getting out of the old job they had for ten years and applying for a new job with a better chance for promotion. The point is, our counter-move allows us to react in a way that keeps us on track regarding our game plan.
4. Finish the play.
In conclusion, after doing it again, going harder, and changing it up, one thing my coach always preached was to finish the play. He always said, "you cannot have a million-dollar move with a ten-cent finish." Growth only happens when you learn how to finish what you started. It is by completing the play that I would score the basket. We may have had to do it over, go harder, and change it up a few times. However, we won't see the results we desire until we finish the job.
Finally, when we learn how to do it again, go harder, change it up, and finish the play, that is when we begin to live a fulfilling life. A life that, when we look back, we have something to look back to. It's a life we are supposed to live.
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