REBOUND FOR SUCCESS in 2011: Turning Misses Into Makes

Happy New Year!

With another year in the rearview mirror and the new year in full gear people are breaking their necks to break old habits. Thus, million dollar question; what’s your New Year’s resolution? While most promise to improve their physical health by vowing to exercise more, eat right, others vow to improve intellectually, financially and spiritually as they vow to read more, make more money, spend money more wisely and/or spend more time with family and attend church regularly. No matter what the resolutions are or how good their intentions, 95% of new year’s resolutions are broken by Jan. 15th. While I’m not saying this to discourage you, I’m saying this to put things into perspective as we strive for personal improvement. I’m gonna put a new twist on the new year’s resolutions. Most people say they're making resolutions when in all actuality they are simply setting goals. Is there a difference? Absolutely.

A goal by definition is a terminal state of a race while a resolution is defined as the act of determining or analyzing a complex notion into a simpler one. The common thread between the 2 concepts is that we set goals and make resolutions yet never finish the race nor make complex notions simpler. Instead, we do just the opposite. We start each new year with new energy and vigor and when we miss the mark, we give up, blame something or someone else as to why we "missed the mark". Missing the mark isn't failure. It's simply a temporary inconvenience. We've been convinced somewhere along the way that missing is failure when in actuality missing leads to success It helps us turn our misses into makes.

From my days of coaching I used to suggest that my players do the following in order to minimize their number of missed shots and increase their number of makes:

1) BRING THE GOAL CLOSER TO YOU: If you want to succeed you have to start inside and work your way out. You have to make sure the goal is up close and personal in order to become more acquainted and confident before you set and achieve bigger,more difficult goals. Bringing the goal closer means waking up thinking about it, praying about it, visualizing it, planning for it, practicing it and then going to sleep reflecting on it only to get it up the next day and do it all over again. Therefore, write down your goals and place them on your bathroom mirror and other places where you will constantly remind yourself of what you will accomplish. Set your smart phone to ring at strategic times of the day, email yourself, program your google calendar, and send yourself voicemails in order to remind yourself of your daily goals.

2) FINE TUNE YOUR MECHANICS : As you set out to achieve your goal your focus has to be intense, your form has to be perfect, and your body as well as your mind must be thoroughly immersed in your actions. Pay close attention to detail when you miss your goal and when you make it. Once you fine tune your mechanics you'll know what works and what doesn't. You may have to drastically change your form in order to improve your chances of achieving your goals. Once you find the form and rhythm that works best stick with it. Be mindful, it could take more time than you want to turn things around, but attention to detail is the path to greatness.

3) HOLD YOUR FOLLOW-THROUGH: As you pursue your goal hold your follow-through and do it in such a way that you know that you've already achieved it. Your follow-through is having the proper attitude even when you miss, however your pursuit, form and rhythm are all the same. Holding your follow-through means your body language indicates your connection to the goal. Holding your form means that your will speaks louder than voice, your focus is intense and your passion is perfect. Make or miss, your follow-through is turning your determination, tenacity, integrity and intensity up to the highest volume and leaving it there.

If you have more makes than misses today, will you be satisfied or will you still be hungry?
If you have more misses than makes today, will you respond or react?

REBOUND.RESET.RELEASE.