Kobe Bryant set a new record on Tuesday night, but he might wish he hadn’t. The shooting guard missed his 13,418th career field goal in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies, earning him the dubious honor of the most missed field goals in the NBA. Of course, Bryant also has the fourth-most points in league history—and five championship rings. So, he’s probably doing OK.
(via http://goo.gl/sCn6A1)
Isn’t that amazing? This basketball player has missed the most field goals (which apparently means any shot, other than a free throw) in the NBA but he’s also 4th on the ladder of most points in their league’s history and has won 5 NBA championships.
We’re so used to saying – I can’t do that, I’m not good enough, I miss too many shots, I don’t make enough sales targets, I don’t know enough about xyz to be any good – that we forget that if you’re not trying, you’re definitely not succeeding.
Whilst I’m sure Kobe Bryant would prefer NOT to have missed that many shots, it is only because he keeps picking himself up, and keeps on going that he’s able to also have the fourth-most points in NBA history. And of course, there’s all the work he’s doing behind the scenes – practising day in and day out, not just for the sake of it but with purpose.
The dreaded 10,000 hours.
We’ve all heard about the 10,000 hours of practice that you supposedly need to put into something before becoming expert at it. And it’s easy to look at that and say, well I don’t have time, and that’s a lot of hours and then walk away.
But that time is going to pass anyway right? And if you’re not going to use those hours to improve in something, what are you going to use them for? (And if you thought: watch T.V., catch up on Facebook gossip, etc, wrong answer!).
My suggestion is to not think of it as 10,000 hours, but to think of it as 5 minutes at a time. We can all, generally, spend 5 minutes a day on something whether that’s learning a new word in a foreign language, doing 2 yoga poses, reading a non-fiction book etc. And those 5 minutes add up, especially if you ‘over-achieve’ and go beyond those 5 minutes.
Look at this blog post for example. I sat down to write 50 words – a measly 50 words – and now I’m up to 350 words! What a great feeling, but if I’d sat down thinking I have to punch out that many words I doubt I’d have achieved it as easily as I have.
Something to help you
Mind you, this hasn’t been easy for me. I’ve long struggled with the”Do all the things all the time” concept, along with the accompanying “I’m useless with no will-power to achieve anything substantial” feelings that come once I failed at meeting those unrealistic goals.
But then I read “The Surprising Spooky Secret to Enduring Success Habits”, bought the book, started implementing the strategies and am achieving so much more than I have in the past!
If you too are keen to make 2015 better, brighter and your most inspirational ever, then why not buy Stephen Guise’s Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results and try something other than the usual?
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