It's NOT The Last Possession That Wins For You!!!

It's NOT The Last Possession That Wins For You!!!

In a rematch between NBA inter-state ballclubs Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic, it was a perfect picture of tables turned around upside down.  In their first match, Miami Heat led up to 20+ points for 3 quarters until they folded up.  In their rematch today which ended as a clutch game, Orlando Magic led by double-digits 3 quarters of the game until they got nipped by a Tyler Herro killer mid-jumper in the last 4 seconds.  At the post-game conference, Coach Jamal Mosley was NOT apologetic with regard Orlando Magic's fumbling act, explicitly stating that in the NBA world,  It's NOT The Last Possession That Wins For You!!!  WHAT he meant was that the end-result of the game was shaped many many possessions WAY PRIOR to that LAST 2 MINUTES.   If I may add, that truism extends even to our everyday life, way beyond the NBA basketball world rough-and-tumble📗📙📘

That said, Plato, the Greek Philosopher was widely quoted: "THE FIRST AND BEST VICTORY IS TO CONQUER SELF".  Having said that, learning to effectively lead yourself and others all comes down to DISCIPLINE [SELF-DISCIPLINE in fact].  Happiness, success, and fulfillment, they all stem from FOCUS and SELF-CONTROL.  I remember the zillion times WHEN every morning, I had to come down from my hotel room, facing an eat-all-you-can buffet, that prospect of making a quick buck, OR that lazy lure of sleeping versus getting up on your feet.  And studies have consistently shown that people with better SELF-DISCIPLINE are much HAPPIER.  WHY oh WHY???

Because with SELF-DISCIPLINE and SELF-CONTROL we actually accomplish more of the goals we truly care about.  YES, SELF-DISCIPLINE is that 'bridge' between our defined goals and our accomplished goals.  Think about it, it could be the longest imaginary bridge to exist in this world because even for those WHO were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, that imaginary bridge between their defined goals and our accomplished goals are more than just a mile-long because along every stretch of that bridge are traps and 'land mines' embedded to betray our journey and WHAT better way to get over the hump than with SELF-DISCIPLINE and SELF-CONTROL✅✅✅

To quote an author I missed the name now, his book claimed that people with a higher degree of SELF-CONTROL are likely to spend LESS TIME debating WHETHER to indulge in behaviors and activities that DON'T align with their values and goals.  WHY?  They are that more decisive.  They DON'T let impulses OR feelings dictate their choices [WHICH sometimes leads us to waffling and indecision].  Instead, they become their very own 'architects' of their own beliefs and the actions they take to achieve a desired outcome.  And as a result, they AREN'T as easily distracted by temptation and tend to feel more satisfied with their own lives😊😊😊

Our takeaway:  Allow me to quote Bruce Lee, the great Chinese martial arts expert WHO said:  TO HELL WITH CIRCUMSTANCES.  I CREATE OPPORTUNITIES.  Simply put, let us NOT wait for that LAST 2 MINUTES of the ballgame [because of our misguided fallacy that the LAST 2 MINUTES will still bring eternity in the ballgame.  NO sirrrrrs, 2 minutes is 2 minutes and nowhere does it approximate the 48 minutes of a basketball game.  Same argument runs true in our life.  Let us NOT wait for that LAST 2 MINUTES dude!@#$%?