By Alan Stein
Each and every time you step on the court or walk in the weight room, you have a choice to make. You can choose to work hard or you can choose to not work hard. Not working hard is actually a choice. You are 100% in control of the effort you put forth.
For this off-season to be as productive as possible, you need to choose to work hard consistently. You must ‘want to’ get better every day.
I want to jump higher.
I want to gain 10 lbs.
I want to start on varsity next season.
I want to play basketball at the next level.
Merely saying you ‘want to’ is not enough. You must make the sacrifices necessary to make it happen. You must train with purpose, train with effort, and train with consistency if you ‘want to’ make your goals a reality.
Think your ‘want to’ is strong?
Let’s say your goal is to gain 10 lbs. this off-season. If I weighed you on April 1st and told you on September 1st I would weigh you again, and if you were 10 lbs. heavier I would give you $1,000,000 in cash, would you accept my offer?
Of course you would! Do you think you would achieve your goal? Absolutely! In fact, I guarantee you would. You would be so focused and determined you would probably gain twice that.
How can I be so sure? Because in that example, your ‘want to’ would be unstoppable! Things are more difficult when you ‘have to’ and much easier when you ‘want to.’
Therefore, you need to learn to ‘want to.’ You need to find a way to tap into your ‘want to’ with that type of conviction (even when there isn’t a million dollar prize involved).
Too often a player’s ‘want to’ gets weakened by the little voice in their head that says…
“I don’t ‘want to’ work out today. I will get up extra shots tomorrow. I will lift weights tomorrow.”
If you let that little voice win, your ‘want to’ is weak. If you let that little voice win, you won’t be successful.
Strengthening your ‘want to’ is not easy. It’s OK if you need some help. In fact, I recommend you get some help. You need to find someone who pushes you to be the best you can be. Someone that holds you accountable. Someone that motivates you, inspires you, and encourages you. Someone that tells you what you need to hear; not what you want to hear. Someone that gives you energy. Someone who supports and strengthens your ‘want to’.
Do you have a person like this in your life? If so, make sure you tell them how much you appreciate you them. If not, you need to find a person like that!
Ballin' with Barber 