No Excuses: Taking the Shot

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And this is why I succeed. - Michael Jordan

There are many times when I don't take that shot.

I like to know with 100% certainty that something will work or come out exactly like how I planned or wanted to. But limited only to my imagination and perspective, that kind of attitude can put a cap on potential and progress.

It is precisely when I am willing to make mistakes and begin the often painful process of learning from my mistakes that I actually make any kind of progress.

I played a game of basketball some time back. I left the game with regrets and an uneasy feeling of "Whew, I didn't screw up too bad". I missed some shots early in the game and had stopped shooting altogether. Other players, including my own teammates, told me, "Just stop shooting the ball if you can't make it." There was only one friend who kept encouraging me, "It's OK if you missed that one, keep taking that shot!"

Yes, I have to know my limits and have a sober judgment of myself. But if I don't keep trying and practicing during game time, then when will I ever learn to shoot a basketball under pressure?

However, I must remember that persistence without the right perspective is merely stubbornness. Trying again and again using the same methods is madness. That's why persistence and taking chances must be coupled with a constant evaluation and adaptation in order to improve oneself.

Am I ready to try new things and to try again if my original attempt didn't work? Am I ready for some humiliation, discouraging moments, and times when I feel like giving up? And when faced with all that, am I ready to suit up for the next round and take the shot? If chances aren't taken, then nothing happens.

Ready or not...

No Excuses: Adapt and Overcome

It's the Marine Corps mantra of "working through the problem" and given a situation, "adapting and overcome". The Marines are meticulous planners and we do our best to execute a mission. However, we also often say, "Semper Gumby". It's the ability to always stay flexible to the changing situation that can determine the success of a mission.



At points along the way, I get disheartened that conventional methods just don't always work out in new or different contexts. Tried and true ways that fail can cause me to think, "I can't" instead of "How can I punch through this?"

The past year, I grew increasingly frustrated at others who would quit too soon and too easily. One thing I kept hearing was, "No, sorry, I can't. It is impossible", when given some creativity and effort, the situation was actually not impossible.

Looking back on 2009, I realize that my frustration arose out of my own lack of creativity and my own quitter mentality.

Going into 2010, I need a fresh outlook. Sometimes a "fresh take" is looking around at what I have available to me and making the most of it instead of wishing I had something I can't get. That really gets me going, a pioneering spirit. That's why I think I'm a huge fan of MacGyver.



That's the kind of stuff that inspires me, riles me up. The "never quit" endurance and ingenuity that results from thinking that nothing is impossible.

On the physical side, I've really "let myself go" in the past year. Instead of thinking of new ways to work out outside of the conventional gymnasium, I felt lost without the neatly arranged dumbbells. This attitude was accentuated by my 14 day trial at a local fitness club, which was over-the-top: pumping with techno music, walled with mirrors, the latest weight machines and health tonics, all served by perfectly tanned physical trainers. It was "all that I could ask for", except that I grew sick of it. It was too contrived and formulaic... I didn't feel free to work out with the level of intensity and range of motion I wanted to. When in actuality, I am completely free to work out whichever I want to, I just didn't want to accept that freedom to think outside the box.

Adapt and overcome.