Basketball: Sense of Urgency

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
                      - Tennyson

Now. Do it now. 

Kevin Eastman's Why the Best Are the Best shares 25 words informing excellence, including URGENCY. 

He begins, "The best of the best understand the importance of the now - this possession, this repetition, this drill, this report, this action, this phone call." 

The Now resonates in our process to 'win the day'. Eastman's process includes two hours of daily reading, one hundred eighty plus hours each quarter, when forty percent of Americans never read a book. 

Eastman continues, "It took me a long time to understand that urgency is a habit." When we procrastinate or abandon a project, we tell ourselves that doing what must be done doesn't matter. We yield the future to our competition. Replace HAVE TO with GET TO, as in I GET TO build the practice schedule.

Is our workspace a mess? Use the five-minute room rescue to tidy up a bit. Hang up that sweatshirt, get the empty mug to the dishwasher, the gear adrift to its place. 

Today matters. Now matters. Get after it.