Brian McCormick recently wrote the following in his newsletter, Hard To Guard:
" How many players really think, plot and dream about being the best? How many write down their goals and look at them frequently? Not everyone will win the championship or be the best team, but everyone can prepare to win, prepare to be their best and play to maximize their ability. On a message board this summer, the father of Reeves Nelson, a verbal commit to UCLA, said that there are players who make the NBA who are less athletic or less talented than others who do not make it. Some disagreed with the comment, but there is certainly some truth. Players who make the effort to reach an outrageous goal have a better chance to reach the goal than those who may possess more talent or athleticism. Hard work is a talent, and a player with an outrageous goal are more motivated to work hard....
Players are often reluctant to verbalize their dreams or goals. I usually have to prod players to get them to express what they want. A player I used to train made a verbal commitment to a Division I program this week and the first time I broached the subject of his ultimate goals, I practically had to put words in his mouth. With some players, it is almost as if they are scared to dream big, like kids are taught not to dream bigger than their peers or to seek to be great."
This is all common sense to successful business professionals. Most successful people can tell you where their business endeavors or careers will be 5 years from now. It is standard practice for businesses to document, chart and vocalize goals at the start of the year. Most business professionals have monthly projections to meet. These five year plans shape one year projections and crystallize monthly expectations. This seeing success and documenting it allows successful individuals and organizations to work daily toward the big prize.
I was training a promising high school student recently and asked her what colleges were she considering attending on a full basketball scholarship? She looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. This player is a promising upperclassmen and recently finished a pretty good run in viewing events over the summer and still she had trouble vocalizing her goals. When she informed me that she had no idea of her basketball goals, I responded by asking her to go to the store for me. She was obviously confused with my request but shrugged her shoulders and stood there and waited on my instructions. I again asked her to go to the store but gave her no directions. She became frustrated with my lack of directions. I then explained to her that without a clear picture(directions) of the store(goal), she could never make it there. I was not implying that she should already know what college she was going to attend but what level she was going to play at. For example, a girl basketball player with the goal of attending the University of Tennessee must have a clear plan and train accordingly. Only the cream of the crop earn women's basketball scholarships to Tennessee. Every player at the University of Tennessee set specific goals to play there. Not one of them woke up as high schools seniors and then chose to become University of Tennessee caliber players. At least 90% of Tennessee players would explain that they dreamed of big time basketball in middle school. I would bet some would even say their goals went back to their elementary days. Simply put, Elite basketball players have elite dreams and work toward them daily. In the words of Donnie Simpson(I'm sure he is the not originator), "Shoot for the moon and if you miss, you will still be amongst the stars."
