What's in your gift basket? I don't mean what we get, but what we give. We have the chance to transform others...for better or for worse.
Time. We all know people who lust over money, property, and 'things'. But time dwarfs other resources. In "The General Who Never Lost", I shared Alexander Suvorov's wisdom, "Money is dear; human life is still dearer; but time is the dearest of all." Nobody ever told me, "I have too much money." But nobody will tell me on their deathbed that they wish they spent more time at work.
Ideas. "Ideas are the currency of the future." Someone caught lightning in a bottle with the concept of fire. Fire meant life or death for humanity, as people lacked thermoregulation skills, tough hide, or thick fur. What's your "fire"?
Perspective. We all want our mentees to win at sports. But when asked about his team a hundred years ago, Amos Alonzo Stagg said (paraphrasing), "I'll know in about twenty years how we did by the type of men they become." Do they care for themselves, their families, and their community?
Curiosity. "Teach me." I knew a physician's assistant who asked people he met for an overarching lesson. For basketball, I'd answer Phil Jackson's "basketball is sharing." For life, "share something great." Tell me a story that matters or your favorite book and why. Bloodletting and leeches were used since ancient times. We STILL use bloodletting for excessive blood concentrations (and once for pulmonary edema) and leeches are making a comeback because of their anti-clotting, antibiotic, and circulatory properties.
Compassion.
Steven Covey wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He tells a story of a man on a train who is frustrated by another man's ill-behaved children. He asks the father to do something. The father relays that he is struggling to care for them since his wife recently died. The first man is dumbfounded and embarrassed when he understands the situation. We judge ourselves by intent and others by results. As hard as it can be, if we work at becoming more compassionate, everyone is better off.
A "mini-loop" play versus the box and one. I never enjoyed being the "one" in box-and-one because you knew that a beatdown was coming.
"Basketball is sharing." - Phil Jackson
