5 Life Changing Lessons Basketball Taught me about Success.

Photo by TJ Dragotta on Unsplash

Last week Friday on my way back from, work I saw a young gentleman playing basketball in my estate. When I saw him playing, I quickly approached him and we exchanged contact details. While I was at work on Monday, I couldn’t stop thinking about basketball so I put a call across to him and told him that I will be joining him to play basketball that evening — on a Monday evening.
I clocked out of the office by 5 PM on Monday, got home, changed to my basketball kits (or I improvised one lol), and went out to ball with my newly found “friend”, David.

While playing with him, my brain took a stroll down memory lane and I recalled when I used to play basketball actively in high school.
In high school, I was involved in sports and extracurricular activities. I played basketball, football, volleyball, baseball, chess, scrabble, table tennis, etc. Due to my active involvement in these activities, I was made the basketball captain and also the school’s sports prefect.

When I left high school and got into Benson Idahosa University, Nigeria, I was recruited to play for the varsity team in my first year. I participated in some tournaments but I “retired” from basketball in my second year so I could focus fully on my academics and my “aspire to perspire” passion.

In my on and off years of playing basketball here are some major lessons I have learned.

1. Master the fundamentals: Basketball is a game of fundamentals. For you to be good at it you need to master the basics. Basic things like ball handling, layups, defense, shooting, etc. These fundamentals if not mastered, will find it very difficult to become a pro. The more you master the basics, the better you become at it. This applies to life and success. The most basic and mundane things in life are the most important and if you ignore them, you might not attain the success you desire. Pay attention to the basics and you will become a master of your craft. Basic things like saying thank you, being kind to people, taking care of your health, calling your loved ones, showing up, excellence, holding yourself to a higher standard, etc. These things might seem basic but when they compound, they become profound.
2. Be Consistent: There was something my high school basketball coach, Coach Ramoh, used to tell me. He used to say “If you leave basketball for a day it will leave you for a week and if you leave it for a week, it will leave you for a month”. Imagine my situation when I haven’t played basketball for almost 3 years. When I went back to the court I wasn’t as good as I used to be because I left basketball for a long time. I got fatigued quickly and missed a couple of layups. This tells so much about consistency. If you want to be good at something you have to be consistent at it. If you want to be a good writer you have to write every day. If you want to have a better relationship you have to be consistent at showing up in your relationship. If you want to be good at selling you have to sell more. Whatever you want to be good at you have to be consistent at it.
3. Build an “A” team: When I was in high school my team enrolled in a tournament called “Milo Basketball Championship”. We got to the finals of the tournament but we did lose the game and in turn, lost the championship. When my coach and I had a conversation on our back to our campus he told me something, he said, “Milton, no man is an island”. I never understood what he said until later on in life. You are as good as the weakest person in your team and if you want to win the game of life and business you must have an “A” team. A small team of experts is better than a large team of amateurs. If you want to conquer your household focus on yourself but if you want to conquer the world build an “A” team.
4. Be a master at a skill: To succeed in basketball you need to master one position. You can either be a center, power forward, small forward, point guard, or shooting guard. As for me, I am a point guard and sometimes a power forward but being a point guard is my core position in basketball. There are other positions I can play in basketball but I have mastered being a point guard and I am pretty good at it. You need to implement this in your life also. Find one skill that you can master. You can have other add-on skills but let this one skill be something you are good at it. If you find that skill, master it and if it’s a profitable skill, market the hell out of it and make some money while at it.
5. Keep the main thing the main thing: In basketball no matter how good you are the most important thing is for you to make the basket and get some points for your team. You might be a good point guard but if all you know how to do is ball handling and not making some shots or passing the ball so your team members can make baskets then you have the point of the game. How does this relate to business? Stop measuring your business success with vanity metrics. The end goal in business is to make sales and to profits. The end goal is not to have more followers on social media or what have you. You need to keep the main thing the main thing. What about relationships? You need to keep the main thing the main thing. The end goal is to fall in love with your partner daily, show up for him/her, understand insecurities, and hold your relationship and the love you have for each other to a higher standard. In all aspects of your life, you need to keep the main thing the main thing because that’s what counts.

I am back on the court now and I am really excited about it. Will I be consistent with basketball? I don’t really know yet but I know that I will hold myself to a higher standard and push myself to always show up during my training days. You have to show up for things that matter to you even on the days you don’t feel like showing up you have to show up on those days. You have to “apply pressure”.

Apply pressure and push yourself for just an extra quarter, an extra hour, love a little bit harder, just…..stretch yourself a little bit more and go beyond your limits. That’s how you make the rest of your life the best of it. — Milton Tutu

MT