Monday, March 15, 2021

Weaknesses to Strengths | MJ Mondays

I have a friend who has a son who is a top 25 basketball player in the country. I first started watching his son play in travel tournaments in the 4th grade, and now he is nearing the end of his high school journey, and his game and stock continue to rise.

We talk often about "the process" and what steps he took along the way. The one thing that he tells me the most is to make sure your kids keep developing and keep getting better. That is it. He said that parents get caught up in who is the best 4th, 5th, or 6th grader, but that nobody outside of that kid's family really cares. What matters is that they are having fun and getting better every year because the minute they stop getting better, they get passed up and people stop watching.

Two goals he said to have for youth athletes are:

1 - For your kids to be varsity ready by the time you are in 9th grade
2 - For your kids to still enjoy and love the game in the 9th grade

He also said that he and his son know and talk about his strengths and weaknesses. Their goal is to grow the strengths but to eliminate weaknesses. One year, college coaches said he couldn't drive to his left, so he worked on that until it was a strength. Then, they said he couldn't shoot the deep three, and now he is one of the best shooters in the country. Now they say that he is not as explosive and athletic as some of his classmates, so he has been making a point to show his athleticism in games by dunking more.

Their goal is to have no weaknesses in his game.

That reminds me of this Michael Jordan quote:

"My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength."

Be aware of what your strengths and weaknesses are. Maximize your strengths and embrace them. But also focus on growing your weaknesses until you have none!

Create a Plan

1 - What are your two biggest strengths?

2 - What can you do to maximize them?

3 - What is one weakness that you have?

4 - What can you do over the next few weeks or months to improve that skill?

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