I recently talked about my personal experience with the idea of preparation. And, the idea continues to permeate my daily interactions. Over the past few weeks I’ve come across two “sticky” ideas around this idea.
- Jay Bilas, “Toughness: Developing True Strength on and off the Court” This book is a must-read for coaches, athletes, competitors, leaders, parents, etc. Jay Bilas, a former collegiate and professional basketball player, and current college basketball analyst and attorney, breaks down different elements of toughness. One of the elements of toughness Bilas elaborates on is “preparation,” below is an excerpt from that chapter that immediately grabbed my attention:
“Preparation is multi-faceted. It is about hard work, but it is also about concentration, in planning and execution and is about how you frame things in your mind. The toughest people stay in the present and concentrate fully on what is front of them… The toughest people have the will to prepare and the will to concentrate. These are skills that can be improved like any other skill.”
- Marc Cuban, “How to win in the Sport of Business” In his book Cuban shares his personal “climbing the ladder” story and it is evident that Cuban has lived and breathed a motto that is near and dear to KSI, “outlearn and outhustle the competition.” A chapter in this book is dedicated to Bob Knight (Marc Cuban is an Indiana University graduate). Cuban credits Coach Knight with the best advice he ever received (paraphrasing):
“Everyone has the will to win; it’s only those with the will to prepare that do win.”
