'THE LOW MAN WINS!' I can remember my college basketball coach yelling this to my teamates and I during rebounding drills when physical contact and leverage was so important to blocking your opponent out. If you could get your hips and shoulders lower than your opponent you had an advantage in gaining the right position to secure the rebound. Most coaches that coach a sport with physical contact are nodding their head in approval right now. Even more important than being the 'low man' is getting into position before you need to be in position. Once contact is initiated between two opponents, it's too late to get any lower. It is what it is at that point.
Another way of looking at this whole idea and its overlap in many other areas of our life is how important it can be to get ready.
Get ready for what? All of it. Any of it. Whatever 'it' is important to you. So how can you become the 'low man' and get ready?
SOURCES OF INFORMATION - We are far too careless in today's over-informed society with our sources of information. We pay attention to things that don't matter, and ignore things that do matter. If the information agrees with what we want to hear, we accept it. If the information makes us uncomfortable and disagrees with us, we reject it. Knowing what sources of information to trust and applying the information they are offering can be a big part in getting ready. There are a lot of 'experts' out there providing a lot of information. Here's how to evaluate an 'expert' and the information they are providing: a) Do they have advanced degrees or certifications in the field that they are offering information about? b) Do they have an extended experience in the field that they are providing information on? c) Are the paid to provide the information that they are providing? d) Do they act on their own information? e) Does their moral code, stance on ethics, or worldview align with yours? That's five recommendations. If a source of information, an expert, does not have at least three of those areas, I'd question the source.
ADDRESS THINGS NOW - Pro-crastination is for amateurs (see what I did there?). It's not cool, risky, sexy, or funny to put things off. Winning, success, accomplishment, impact, preparation, and influence are reserved for those that take action immediately. This is especially true in 2020 with how fast information moves. There's also the reality that life happens and a lot of times that is bad. Too often we get caught out of position and unprepared because we simply never got around to addressing that thing we should've addressed and it's come back now to bite us. Do not delay. Get things done now.
DON'T MAKE PLANS, APPLY AND ADJUST PLANS - There are two types of plans: a) good plans b) bad plans. The difference between the two is application. Bad plans are always spoken about and never acted on. Good plans are acted on. Even if it's not the right plan, good plans means that you are on the move and you'll be finding out new information soon enough. You can't learn or adjust on a plan that is never applied. I have two recommendations on applying plans. Recommendation 1: don't make big, extravagant, long, drawn out plans. Things move and change too fast. Make short plans. Recommendation 2: at the conclusion of a plan, evaluate it, modify it, and reapply it. This creates short feedback loops they are a huge factor in making successful plans. You do not have to apply a great plan at first. Just apply a short plan, see it to completion, adjust, and keep going. In that way, you can turn it into a great plan.
I've referenced how fast things are moving and how fast they change multiple times in this post. It's similar to my experience every time I moved up a level in my sports career. I played basketball for a long time and each time I moved up things seemed like they were flying out of control. The way to make the game slow down was always the same. Get in position before you need to be in position and all of the sudden, the game moved slower and there was an extra split second available to make a decision once the action came my way. It's a perfect analogy for dealing with the pace of life. If you want to slow things down, get ready earlier and you'll have the necessary time and perspective to make informed decisions in the fast-paced game of life.
Get ready for what? All of it. Any of it. Whatever 'it' is important to you. So how can you become the 'low man' and get ready?
SOURCES OF INFORMATION - We are far too careless in today's over-informed society with our sources of information. We pay attention to things that don't matter, and ignore things that do matter. If the information agrees with what we want to hear, we accept it. If the information makes us uncomfortable and disagrees with us, we reject it. Knowing what sources of information to trust and applying the information they are offering can be a big part in getting ready. There are a lot of 'experts' out there providing a lot of information. Here's how to evaluate an 'expert' and the information they are providing: a) Do they have advanced degrees or certifications in the field that they are offering information about? b) Do they have an extended experience in the field that they are providing information on? c) Are the paid to provide the information that they are providing? d) Do they act on their own information? e) Does their moral code, stance on ethics, or worldview align with yours? That's five recommendations. If a source of information, an expert, does not have at least three of those areas, I'd question the source.
ADDRESS THINGS NOW - Pro-crastination is for amateurs (see what I did there?). It's not cool, risky, sexy, or funny to put things off. Winning, success, accomplishment, impact, preparation, and influence are reserved for those that take action immediately. This is especially true in 2020 with how fast information moves. There's also the reality that life happens and a lot of times that is bad. Too often we get caught out of position and unprepared because we simply never got around to addressing that thing we should've addressed and it's come back now to bite us. Do not delay. Get things done now.
DON'T MAKE PLANS, APPLY AND ADJUST PLANS - There are two types of plans: a) good plans b) bad plans. The difference between the two is application. Bad plans are always spoken about and never acted on. Good plans are acted on. Even if it's not the right plan, good plans means that you are on the move and you'll be finding out new information soon enough. You can't learn or adjust on a plan that is never applied. I have two recommendations on applying plans. Recommendation 1: don't make big, extravagant, long, drawn out plans. Things move and change too fast. Make short plans. Recommendation 2: at the conclusion of a plan, evaluate it, modify it, and reapply it. This creates short feedback loops they are a huge factor in making successful plans. You do not have to apply a great plan at first. Just apply a short plan, see it to completion, adjust, and keep going. In that way, you can turn it into a great plan.
I've referenced how fast things are moving and how fast they change multiple times in this post. It's similar to my experience every time I moved up a level in my sports career. I played basketball for a long time and each time I moved up things seemed like they were flying out of control. The way to make the game slow down was always the same. Get in position before you need to be in position and all of the sudden, the game moved slower and there was an extra split second available to make a decision once the action came my way. It's a perfect analogy for dealing with the pace of life. If you want to slow things down, get ready earlier and you'll have the necessary time and perspective to make informed decisions in the fast-paced game of life.
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on
being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read
about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader and Director
of Athletics at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. He’s earned a few
degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school
sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated
most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter
for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
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