While on my 6.5 mile walk this morning, I noticed something new in the road in front of one of the houses I pass on a quiet side street. There were four white lines on the asphalt. The lines were in front of a basketball hoop that’s been sitting in the yard near the road. As I got closer, I realized the lines were strips of white tape with writing on them. The first strip was roughly in the middle of the road and said, “FREE THROW.” The second strip was roughly four feet away from the first and said, “HiGH SHCOOL (sic) THREE.” The third strip was roughly two feet away from the second and said, “COLLEGE THREE,” and the fourth strip was roughly two feet away from the third and said, “NBA THREE.” As I passed the lines, I thought to myself, “Some kiddo wants to be in the NBA one day. Good for him. He’s created an easy way to visualize his goal.”
Visualize your goals.
As I was heading for home, I again came down this quiet street. However, this time, the garage door to the house with the basketball hoop was opening. As it got roughly three-quarters open, a boy around 14 years old ducked under the door and started dribbling his basketball out of the garage and down the driveway. When he got to the street, he looked for traffic (There was none other than me approaching on the opposite side of the street), so he kept dribbling and walked to the “NBA THREE” line, looked at the basketball hoop, and kept dribbling. Then he dribbled to his left in an arc along an imaginary three point NBA shot line as he looked at the hoop every few steps. Once he got to the side of the road, he turned and followed his imaginary arc back to center. There he stopped at the “NBA THREE” point line, looked at the basketball hoop, then dribbled along his imaginary NBA three point arc to the right. Again, he looked at the hoop every few steps and reversed his exercise once he hit the corner. Once back at the “NBA THREE” line, he stopped, dribbled three times, and took a shot. He missed. He whiffed it. He was short by at least four feet. However, he didn’t seem frustrated or angry. He simply ran and got his ball. Then he started dribbling up the driveway to meet his mother who was getting into her car to no doubt take him to school. Apparently, he just needed to take one shot before he had to leave for school. As I passed them, I thought, “That kid’s got passion and focus, he just needs to develop his strength and skills.”
Passion and focus only take you so far. Develop the skills and expertise to do what needs to be done.
It’s obvious this teen doesn’t yet have the foundational skills or strength needed to achieve his NBA dream. However, what impressed me was his very first shot of the day wasn’t the easiest. He attempted the most difficult shot first. He honed in on his vision first. He reaffirmed it in his mind’s eye. My hope for him is that when he practices after school, he’ll walk several steps forward and practice developing the solid foundational skills and strength he needs to build the career he wants.
How are you developing the skills and strength you need to achieve your vision?
Copyright MMXXIV – Liz Weber, CMC, CSP – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com +1.717.597.8890
Liz Weber is an advisor to boards of directors, business owners, and C-Suite leaders. She’s a leadership, strategic and succession planning consultant, speaker, and author. She helps her clients focus on the right things at the right times to get the right impact. Learn more about Liz on LinkedIn!
