Last weekend I built a portable basketball hoop for my grandkids because they basically wore out the hoop they received for Christmas. I purchased it Friday evening and built it Saturday morning so it would be ready for them when they came on Sunday afternoon. The height of the hoop adjusts from 7.5 ft to 10 ft, so we’ll be able to increase the height of the net as the kids grow and their skills improve. Currently, it is set at 7.5 ft. The plan is to leave it at that height until Riley who is 11 can dunk on it.
Once it was completed and rolled into place I began marking the driveway with different colors of duct tape indicating distance from the hoop – orange for 10ft, grey for 12 ft, red for 14 ft, blue for 16 ft and a combination of red/blue tape at 23.75 ft because the boys insisted on an NBA three point line. My thinking was shooting from a known distance would help the boys (and me) train our muscles such that “thinking” about how hard to shoot the ball from “x ft” would become automatic. The last thing you wanna do when shooting is “think”; you just wanna let it fly!
When the kids aren’t here I practice alone, which is kinda nice because I can work on my form instead of participating in some “silly” competition with the boys. It seems they are always trying to prove which of them is better. Their actions remind me a lot of how life was and still is with my two brothers – a competition.
When I practice I attempt to follow a routine. I begin on an orange mark. I need to make two in a row before moving to the next orange. Once I complete the orange, I move to the gray, and so on. Seems so simple, but has proven to be more of a challenge than I thought. Many times I have thought about quitting or simply continuing to shoot the easier, shorter shots, especially when I get to the futher red and blue marks, but I work through all the marks each practice.
Of course, this got me thinking…
How am I living my life?
- Am I taking too many low risk/low reward shots?
- Am I taking enough of the medium risk/medium reward shots?
- What about the high risk/high reward shots? Do I know what these look like?
- What ,exactly, are my goals and can I reach them by taking only low risk/low reward shots which I seem to live by?
Bottom line – am I taking the actions required to expand my comfort zone or create a “new and improved” zone?
Answer: More than I used to be, but not enough as I need to be. To get better, I need to become more consistent; similar to improving my basketball shot – new actions need to become “automatic”.
So, how about you?
Are you shooting the hard ones?
Dan’s View 