Don't work at basketball to make the team, to get your name on a roster, to get a uniform. In other words don't work to 'be something" but to "do something." This resonates with other assignments. Finishing the task matters, but make it your best work. That earns the respect of the teacher, but more importantly, it earns self-respect.
There's a story about a teacher who divided a class into two groups, one to be graded on the best photograph they presented and the other graded on the volume of photographs taken. The results were that the group taking the most photographs also handed in the best photographs.
"The magic is in the work." Malcolm Gladwell made an argument for "10,000 hours," although some have disputed that. The ACHIEVEMENT equation includes both PERFORMANCE and TIME because both matter.
Ben Franklin chose the printing trade despite its long nine year training requirement. He knew that it would take time to master his craft.
Although Van Gogh painted about 900 paintings in his lifetime, he sold only one. Fame came long after his passing.
Recall Hemingway's advice about writing. "Writing is easy. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."
Whatever your trade, invest the time.
If you say this post didn't discuss basketball skill, strategy, athleticism, or resilience, then you missed the message.
Lagniappe. Some of you read Jay Bilas's Toughness. Bilas's father asked him to change out the contact paper at the bottom of his sister's vanity. It was a sticky mess, difficult to do, and Jay did the job, but not well. When his father came home at 9:00 P.M., he inspected the work and did it over. Young Bilas was humiliated.
If you don't have the time to do something right now, when will you have the time to do it right?
