Charles is in the middle of his first basketball season, and as you might expect, he’s really good. I always love hearing his take of what happened in the games and his elaborate, detailed replays. We were talking after one of his games in which he had posted a career high 6 points and his team had won 6-4. We were talking about him scoring 6 points and he said:
“I want to score 10 points in a game. I need to score 10 points.”
It was amazing to me that even with his limited grasp of the English language, he realized that “want” didn’t adequately convey how he really felt.
2 things I love about this:
1. He set a lofty goal for himself. I would be surprised if any other kid in the league had scored 6 points in a game this year. But 6 points wasn’t enough. He needed to score 10 points. It didn’t matter to him that it was a high scoring game for that league and both teams combined scored 10 points. He could do it, no doubt.
2. The use of the word “need”. It wasn’t just a desire he had, it was a need. What if instead of wanting to accomplish our goals, we needed to accomplish our goals? What if we had the attitude of “I need to get that job” or “I need to get that scholarship” instead of just wanting it. Our mentality and actions would change completely.
Side Note-My sister struggles on these videos. He did take the shot that went in. Notice the half hop back down the court after he makes it.
Everyone wants to be successful. I’m pretty sure no one has the dream of growing up to be lower-middle class and live paycheck to paycheck. Not everyone is willing to make the sacrifices and put the time in to become successful. Change your mindset and see if the results don’t change as well.
Bonus: I also had this conversation with him about the same game. He had mentioned several times how he thought #4 on the other team was really good.
Me: Hey Charles
Charles: Yea?
Me: So #4 sounds pretty good.
Charles: Yea, he was really good.
Me: Was he better than you?
Brief pause…
Charles: No
Can’t say he’s not confident.
Barrett Stover 