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Saturday, February 27, 2016

Compounding Your Life or a Donkey Can Do It

Do you know how the casinos make so much money in Vegas? Because they track every table, every winner, every hour. Why do Olympic trainers get paid top dollar? Because they track every workout, every calorie, and every micronutrient for their athletes. All winners are trackers. - Darren Hardy, The Compound Effect

We improve ourselves by building upon pre-existing resources. We compound that in a variety of ways - developing better habits, tracking (time usage, progress, activity, money), and by working on 'neuroplasticity', improving both brain structure and function. 

We all have good and bad habits. I know that I drink too much coffee, get too little sleep, and can get more exercise. If you have a Fitbit, have you wondered what would happen if you wrapped it up in a soft towel and threw it in an unheated dryer? I'm still wondering. That would be a lot easier on my knees than getting the steps I'm getting. 

How committed to learning are we? Steve Forbes writes that he reads more than fifty pages a day. Kevin Eastman of the Clippers reads for at least two hours a day. In How Champions Think, Dr. Bob Rotella shares the story of Paul Runyan, a ninety-year-old golfer who once beat Sam Snead. He returned to a Canadian golf meeting to discuss commitment. He confessed that he was unable to fulfill his promise to work on his short game for at least two hours a day the preceding year. He admitted that on three days he couldn't get it done. He told his stunned audience that he hoped that they had done better!

Tracking is commitment. As a teenager, I used to record how many free throws I made each day (out of a hundred) on graph paper. Why did I stop at a hundred? That was partial commitment, at least in retrospect. I distribute playbooks at the beginning of the season and encourage players to take notes and record (for each practice or game) three things they did well, one area for improvement, and specifics on how they will improve that. But it's voluntary and I don't check their 'work'. I've heard that some players actually 'do the work'. And I can probably guess which ones...

I've written one book about basketball (The Simple Guide to Girls' Basketball: The Game Is for the Players) and have another to which I've not dedicated enough time, despite having over sixty typed pages of notes. How hard would it be to write a book with one hundred plays or one hundred drills, if I just committed to completing one each day? Procrastination has its root in the Latin word, 'cras', meaning tomorrow. Tomorrow is guaranteed to nobody. 

If a player or coach wants excellence, what characteristics would they have? Surely by now we'd cite passion, confidence, engagement, good judgment, and a desire for improvement. But we could separate those with the former from those with persistence "Persist" comes from the Latin per (through) and sistere (to stand). So one who persists, stands through some endeavor. Maybe the story of the donkey in the well will remind us of the value of persistence.