Ever since I was in high school I have been interested in basketball and especially the NBA.
I’ve never been a loyal fan to one team because I wasn’t born in America but I do have my favorite players.
At present Blake Griffin, Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Manu Ginobili are my favorite players to watch.
They are explosive, powerful, and all-around amazing players that can light it up any given night. That’s what I love.
I watch sports to see the incredible. The seemingly impossible.
Tennis star Roger Federer has now hit more than a few shots between his legs facing backwards for clean winners. Each time the opponent is stunned, as it the crowd.
Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers has produced some of the most amazing dunks in recent history.
The other day I saw the top ten plays of the day on nba.com and in first place was a shot from half court that won the game.
There have been games won with .4 seconds on the clock, the equivalent of the hail mary throw in football.
So what does this all have to do with success in our lives?
Most of us will never need to hit a game winning shot but what we do need to do is understand that we should never give up till the final horn sounds.
Only after the horn is blown do you stop playing.
In business, you don’t give up at the first sign of trouble.
In sales, you don’t give up at the first no.
In love, you don’t give up looking for your soulmate because someone dumped you.
In life, no matter how tough things are, you can still turn them around.
Yes, it may take time and no, it might not be easy.
But they’re not the issue – it’s possible and that’s all that really matters.
Michael Jordan once said, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan’s greatest attribute was his unwillingness to accept failure.
Maybe that’s something each of us could learn from.
Adrian Shepherd
You only fail if you choose not to play. Life is about learning through our mistakes and triumphs. If you don’t engage with a better opponent you would never acquire higher skills.
Very well said Linh. I recently heard an interesting quote by Richard Bandler, the founder of NLP, that I found rather interesting. He said, “Failure is only possible when you set yourself a time limit.” As long as we are in the game and continuing to challenge ourselves we will win. It’s simply a question of when.
Adrian