Mission.org writer, Cathryn Lavery shares insights from the esteemed strength and conditioning basketball coach, Alan Stein on how the discipline of two-time league MVP, Stephen Curry has paid huge dividends in his career:
Several years ago I had the honor of working the first ever Kobe Bryant Nike Skills Academy. Nike invited the top 20 high school shooting guards and the top 10 college shooting guards in the country to this camp with Kobe, and it’s kinda funny now that I look back on it, how many of those players are now household names in the NBA.
The least recognized player there was Stephen Curry, but I knew immediately that he was the most impressive and that thinking long term, he was going to be a future NBA superstar, and here’s how I knew that: it was all because of his work habits.
Now [regarding] those skills academies, we’d have two workouts a days for three straight days. Thirty minutes before every single workout, most players were still in their flip flops and would have on their headphones and Stephen Curry had already started doing some form shooting. He’d already started taking game shots from game spots in game situations. By the time the workout officially started he’d probably already made 100–150 shots, almost in a full sweat.
And then probably the most impressive thing that he did, was as soon as every workout was over, he would not leave the court until he swished five free throws in a row. You know how hard that is? But that’s the level of excellence he holds himself to. The moral of that story, is that success is not an accident, success is actually a choice. Stephen Curry is one of the best shooters on the planet today because he has made the choice to create great habits.”
If you’re serious about achieving a goal or fulfilling your purpose in life, you have to come to the realization that small consistent steps will produce much larger results in the end. Discipline always pays dividends.
EFFICIENT DISCIPLINE
Peter Drucker said, “Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things. Not everything that counts can be counted. Not everything that can be counted counts.” All of us can stand to become more efficient. One thing we tend to manage inefficiently is our time. Just think about how much time we could redeem without scrolling through our Instagram feed. That irredeemable time could be spent working on your business plan.
Oftentimes, slight adjustments can improve efficiency. For example, set a time limit for Social Media activity. Set a minimum page limit for how much book reading you will do per day and be disciplined. Furthermore, what you read will help you do things the right way. At work or in your business make sure that the project gets done properly the first time so that you don’t have to waste time making corrections. When we do things right or right away, that efficiency enables us to maximize our effectiveness.
EFFECTIVE DISCIPLINE
It’s possible to be very efficient at doing the wrong things. Knowing how to do something and knowing what’s worth doing are two different things. Knowing who you are and what you’re pursuing will determine what the “right things” are for you. For example, if you seek to inspire people through physical training, obtaining a PhD in literature probably won’t help. However, starting a Youtube channel may be worth the investment of your time. When it comes to being effective, comparison can be deadly. Attempting to copy people who are doing ‘big’ things can be a recipe for disappointment. They may be experiencing success because they are doing the “right things” to fulfill their purpose.
ENDURING DISCIPLINE
Jim Rohn said, “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” Some people are strong, some are smart and some are gifted. However, endurance is the one trait that all successful people have in common. It is unlikely that your first attempt at building the organization, launching the company, improving the system, or completing the vision will be your best attempt. This means you’ll need multiple attempts. Going into a situation we have to realize that it’s going to require disciplined effort to cross the bridge from envisioned goals to fulfilled accomplishment.
Henry Cavill said, “I like to go full bore into something. If you have a backup plan, then you’ve already admitted defeat.” I know some will say that logic dictates that you have a backup plan but that sort of thinking creates in your mind a loophole – a way of not really having to go “all in” with what you are pursuing or trying to achieve. In essence it lessens your need to be determined because you feel that if it doesn’t work out you can always do x, y or z. Maybe it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe the reason it didn’t work out is because you had a backup plan at the beginning so you didn’t put the necessary effort into making sure that the original vision came to pass by any means necessary!
Disciplined and enduring adherence to the steps necessary to complete your task are the only way to fulfill your purpose in life.
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