Friday, December 15, 2023

Basketball: "Do the Hard Thing First" and Own the Morning

"We make our habits and our habits make us."

Commit to "win the morning." And part of winning is doing the 'hard thing'. For me, that's some exercise as I approach my eighth decade.

1. Sleep. Get at least seven hours sleep, preferably eight. "That's not hard." For some, it is. Shakespeare wrote, "sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care." Unfray it.

2. Read. I've written how Kevin Eastman reads two hours each morning, 180 hours a quarter. Think about how much more we could know with over seven full 24 hour days of thoughtful reading.

3. Study. Recall David Mamet's advice to his children, "Do one thing every day for your business and one for your craft." For me, that includes continuing medical education. I use something called "Knowledge Plus" from the New England Journal of Medicine.

4. Exercise. I do a dumbbell workout, pun intended, increasing reps gradually. It started with five sets of five each: 

  • Weighted knee bends
  • Overhead presses 
  • Bent over rows
Getting a head start on New Years' Resolutions and increasing the reps and moving to twice daily.  

5. Journal. I write two blogs, basketball and volleyball. In addition to the thousands published of each, I have an enormous number of drafts, marinating or dying on the vine. Ryan Holiday discussed author Joyce Carol Oates and her process of putting manuscripts aside for months or a year before completion. Yes, finishing and revision both matter. 

It's never good enough and what readers choose need not mesh with my perception of interest or quality.  

6. "Do the Hard Thing First." Usually that means exercise but others arise, usually paperwork. In medicine, hard conversations discuss tough problems or challenging prognosis.  

Build your routine and win the morning. 

Lagniappe. "Fight for your culture every day." 
Lagniappe 2. If you want improvement, target improvement in your teaching and implementation of a system. This is not a 'quick read'...from Davidson women's bball and not something to insert into your system today. 

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