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Monday, January 22, 2024

Basketball: "Showing Up"

"90 percent of success is showing up."

Showing up means being present and fully engaged. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, shares a story about a salesman who used a jar of paper clips as a productivity tool. He put 100 paper clips in a jar and transferred one to another jar after each call. Within a few years, he became a sales leader with five million dollars of business. 

Whether we believe in Malcolm Gladwell's "10,000 hours" of development to mastery, work matters. 

Showing up includes addressing what we don't want to do like paperwork and hard conversations. 

"The Four Agreements" offers guidelines. 

1. "Be impeccable with your word." Speak greatness. Better than saying, "I'm sorry to bother you" is "Thank you for making time to listen." Speak the truth to ourselves as well. 

2. "Don't take anything personally." What others say reflects more about them than us. Know and own our attitude, choices, and effort. Others do not.

3. "Don't make assumptions." We can't know others' intent. Focus on our job and responsibility. If we want to know, then ask. 

4. "Always do your best." Show up engaged and intense. Think about transition defense. Sprinting back matters but your assignment may be to protect the basket, stop the ball, slow the offense in another way. 

Showing up means:

  • Being punctual and prepared. 
  • Bringing energy every day
  • Energizing teammates
  • Never cheating the drill 
  • Knowing and doing our job.
Lagniappe. John McPhee wrote about this in "A Sense of Where You Are" about Bill Bradley in the mid-1960s. Know what's going on with players. 

Lagniappe 2. Coaches need exercise, too. 

Post by @coach_gerhard
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Lagniappe 3. Excellent quick video breakdown of options and decisions in the half-court 

Post by @dlep30
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