While in the village of Ihie in Nigeria visiting family for the holidays, I had several priorities.  The first was to relax and enjoy my family, the second was to prepare for my upcoming chieftaincy coronation and the third was to teach my 10 old year nephew about the joys of training with regards to preparation for sport.

My nephew is a basketball player with a dream of playing in the NBA.  Our regimen four times a week was to go for a run in the morning with a very structured but important warmup beforehand.  Depending on what day it was, there was usually a series of sprints that followed the run.  After the cardio stuff, we would finish off with various calisthenics including a predetermined number of basketball shots.  

I really wanted to see if this was a kid just doing some wishful thinking or if he was someone willing to put some action behind his dreams.  So I pushed him hard on the runs just to see what kind of attitude he had. I knew that he was in a state of discomfort.  Would he just quit and walk, would he get angry and give up on his goals, or would he decide to fight for what he says he wants.

Well, I saw many different personalities come out.  Although my nephew impressed me tremendously at the beginning of the first week, I realized that when the pressure came, he started to back off.  While it is reasonable to expect a young person to exaggerate different signs of fatigue in order to show that he is trying, I really knew that he had so much more in him.  Through my extensive experiences from a career in sports, I have learned to read emotions very well.  In addition to this, he was always able to finish off with a strong sprint at the end.  So I was positive that he was saving way too much energy, which could become a detrimental habit to achieving his dreams.

There were little victories throughout the rest of the week, involving technique, mindset and overall grit, but my nephew totally shocked me on the Tuesday of the third week when he performed with the intention of beating me.  The result was that he ran the best 25 minutes I have ever seen him run.  I could tell he was in extreme physical discomfort but here is what I think made a significant difference. He realized that he could perform even when when he was tired; that he had to focus on what he wanted rather than on the obstacles; that he could amaze himself if he could push past his fear.  

My hope was that my nephew would realize that getting what he wants does not come for free.  There is a price to pay and regardless of age, that price has to be paid with dedication and sweat.  I cannot fully express the pride I felt as an uncle seeing my nephew mature and show dedication beyond his years.  I now fully believe in his dream and have confidence that he has demonstrated the kind of attitude necessary in order to become someone great.

It is January 2009.  What do you need to do to step it up?  Are you willing to sweat for your dreams?  It doesn’t matter what your dream is.  There are some things that will be uncomfortable as you push closer towards achieving your goals.  Are you saving too much energy anticipating a strong sprint at the end? Doing so may compromise your performance in the present.  Are fears of pain and discomfort holding you back?  Figure out what those fears are and face them.  Understand that real growth usually comes when we put ourselves in the struggle.

We can have anything we want but most people don’t know what they want. Not even an idea. Imagine making a decision to go on a trip but not having the slightest idea of where you’re going. We have millions of people virtually willing to do anything to get onto our shores just to have the opportunities that we have. But the reality is that millions of us grow up in this society and never utilize the opportunities given to us. The majority of people will spend more time planning their weekend party than planning their career. More people will spend more time planning their christmas vacation than they do planning their entire lives.

Do you have a clear specific plan for your life and know where you’re going to be in 1,2,3,4,5 years? Do you know by how much you want to increase your income by 10,20,30 percent over the next 1-5 years? What job have you decided you want in the next 1-5 years?

Have you ever tried to hit a bullseye on a target that you can’t see. It’s very difficult. In the same way if you don’t know what your life or job looks like how will you recognize it, how will you prepare yourself for it.

I’d like to offer a very simple remedy. Sit down and write everything down that you would like to achieve in the next 5 years. Your health goals, your income goals, your material goals, home, car, travel, clothes.

Tomorrow we will discuss the what to do next after you write down what you want to achieve in the major areas of your life.

Remember to “Energize” today.
Nick

Take a moment and ask yourself this question today: Do you set your own standards and live up to them? The values you have for your life are a tremendous source of strength and energy for you. If you don’t have them, create empowering values that you will not compromise for temporary gain. Make it a great day.

“Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.”
-Heraclitus

What excites you? What do you most enjoy? What are you really good at? If you aren’t sure of the answers, ask your friends. They know you and will be happy to tell you. The answers are your starting place for determining your dream. Remember this is the dream part. There is nothing holding you back. Play.

“To do BIG, You’ve got to think BIG.”
-Mo Lawal aka”King Mo” US Wrestling Champion.

Dreams are not goals. Dreams can be anything you want them to be, free of obligations and limitations. I can’t stress the importance of creating a dream for yourself enough.
Why not think of one right now? What would you be if you could do ANYTHING? Don’t worry about why you can’t be that thing, just go for it. Listen, a dream is not a goal. Goals are the stepping stones, the planned path, the blueprint. We’ll get to those soon. But for now, let your mind be free. Imagine the possibility of being whoever or whatever you want. Make it fun. Make it limitless.

To be the best at what you do you must practice consistently. I learned this from Richard Deschatelets, my college wrestling coach. One other thing I learned from him is that it’s not practice that makes perfect- perfect practice makes perfect. A bad tennis swing practiced regularly produces a bad tennis swing. A perfect tennis swing practiced regularly gets you closer to victory. Disregarding perfect practice sets you up to lose to the competition leading to setbacks, lack of results, frustration, and a sense of complacency. Practice the correct skills on a consistent basis and I guarantee you three energy infusing and belief altering benefits:
1. Improvement. You’ll get better. It’s impossible not to because you’ll be working on your mistakes and making things better. This creates forward progress and forward progress creates momentum.

2. Conviction. That you deserve to win. Hey, you are putting in time and energy, as well as making sacrifices to get what you want. You are telling God and the universe that you really want this thing and you are willing to do what it takes, so give it to me. This will allow you to execute with greater conviction and produce results when called on.

3. Confidence. Champions have a certain thing about them, a sort of swagger. They have practiced and paid the price to be where they are. When you commit to consistent perfect practice, you will begin to win more. Your confidence will increase. The more success you have the more memory of success you create. This creates momentum and you continue to win even more… Do you want to win more, then get at it….

Never forget what made you successful in the past, because those same traits are going to be integral in making you successful in the future. In my own drive to achieve my goals, I sometimes got so focused in wanting to be successful that I forget to do the things that led to the success. I learned this lesson very well in my wrestling career. In my sport I understood that the things I did leading up to a match dictated to a large degree how ready and focused I was for the match… things like the warmup, what I ate before the tournament, what I did between matches, what I did right after a match, the intensity of the conversations I was having, and who I was having those conversations with. I had rituals that led to a peak performance!

What are your rituals that activate your peak performance? One thing I realized is that when I journal daily, exercise, eat well, do yoga, meditate, write down the 6 things that I must get done for the day, I find that I am ready to go. I suddenly feel like I am on automatic towards accomplishing my vision.

Take some time to figure out the things that allow you to perform at a peak level. I suggest start with journaling. Why that will be our topic for the next entry… Till then journal away…

Commitment: Be Willing to Pay the Price
Natural talent only determines the limits of your athletic potential. It’s dedication and a willingness to discipline your life that makes you great.“ Billie Jean King
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda… I remember some tremendously talented athletes in my highschool. I also remember some talented athletes who everyone said were going to go all the way, become National champions, World Champions and Olympic champions. The reality is that the ones who really went on to succeed were not the most talented. They were really the ones who put in the time and kept working when things weren’t going so well. They were those who went the extra mile and then some. They went through the disappointments, the rejections and the adversity. It may have taken them double or triple the time to understand a concept or develop a skill but when they got it, they got it. These individuals made up for what they didn’t have in talent through hard work. From my experience, it’s worth it. Dream big, put in the time, do the work and then write me a letter with your success story.