Basketball: How Can I Get Better Today?

Kevin Durant wakes asking, "How can I get better today?" Everyone has that challenge and opportunity.

"What if" an external you counseled you, "do this and don't do that?" Consider the possibilities. 

1. Invest more time; spend less. Reduce time wasting. That includes less television, less texting, less screen time. We have a family saying about food, "Don't waste it." Widen the application. 

2. Become more efficient. A ten minute shower could become five. '86' useless drills. Have a sense of urgency. 

3. "Do five more." - Dan Pink   I share James Kerr's Legacy advice plenty ("Champions do extra."), but have I made the five more calls, read five more pages, walked five more minutes? 

4. Get adequate sleep. Improve sleep hygiene by avoiding caffeine (five hour half-life) after noon. Consider a warm bath before sleep. 

5. Build better habits. Pick, stick, check. Every day is resolution fulfillment day. 

6. "Look for the helpers." - Mr. Rogers   Find a mentor and be one. The same principles for athletes - skill, strategy, physicality, and psychology apply to our parenting, business, and hobbies. I've said, "make friends with the dead." What would Lincoln say? What would Dean Smith do? 

7. Share more of yourself. Sharing includes time, ideas, and quality. 

Give more credit. Without my wife, I am nowhere. 

8. "Read. Read. Read. Read. Read." Ideas emerge out of nowhere, but more often others trigger them. 

9. Be more grateful. Choose gratitude over grievance. And say thanks. 

10.THINK - As communicators, spread:

T - tell the truth

H -be helpful

I - inspire

N -be necessary (shave syllables, be concise, consider others' feelings)

K -be kind

Model excellence. 

Suggestions for readers:

• Legacy by James Kerr
• The Positive Dog by Jon Gordon
• The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

Lagniappe. 

"You can't become a great team until you realize that it's not all about you.

It's the commitment that you make to your teammates, the hard work that you put in, the trust that you earn, the love that you have.

That's what makes you a champion." -Jerome Bettis pic.twitter.com/ib75aB6ejS

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) August 2, 2023

Lagniappe 2. Relentless. 

"Sometimes we think that we are all in, but we are not all in."
"Do. The. Work.
Every day, you have to do something that you don't want to do.
You don't have to love hard work. You just have to crave the end result so much that the hard work becomes irrelevant." -Tim Grover pic.twitter.com/My2VXIMcJh

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) August 2, 2023