his bleach blonde hair cut from his Phoenix days, please check it out), getting the chance to talk about discipline and absorbing ways to ultimately better myself is just as good.
Discipline is, by far, the most common trait adopted by all successful people. If you aspire to be in the top 1 percent, you must do what only 1 percent of people are willing to do. While breaking down videos of your opponents in high school or taking thousands of jump shots a day may not be the most glamourous way to spend time, it was how Jason Kidd separated himself from the pack.
Self-discipline is attained by training your mind to solely focus on what you feel is important in order to achieve your goals. Someone who wants to lose weight must develop the discipline to eat strong, healthy foods rather than those filled with sugar. If you wish to get all As on your report card, you must discipline yourself and spend extra time studying while others take part in activities that will not benefit them in the long run.
Beyond self-reflection, journals can be utilized as a way to mightily improve our efficiency. As you know, when we write things down, we automatically give ourselves a better chance to accomplish any task or goal. For further emphasis, here is an examination on doodling in the classroom.
In 1996, Beesley and Apthorp conducted a study to see the links between strong note-taking and overall success of college students. They were eager to see if writing down notes led to stronger retention of the information at hand. According to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the group who took notes performed better on tests than those who chose not to record the information during lectures. The researchers also found that the note-takers actually outperformed the control group who reviewed the lecture annotations but did not physically write them down.
In 2012, James and Engelhardt constructed a study using fifteen children in Indiana. The boys and girls were asked to write, trace, or type out letters while their brains were scanned. The researchers, according to Trends in Neuroscience and Education, identified that scripting the letters triggered more brain regions than typing them on a computer.
Even in the digital age, there is still something special about writing things down. Not only are you more prone to retain the information you write, but your brain is literally energized in ways that aren’t possible unless you put pen to paper. So each day, write down what you would like to accomplish. It only takes a minute and automatically increases your chances of getting things done.
Paramount Points
•Boost your benchmark by surrounding yourself with individuals who have a successful track record in the field that you wish to excel in.
•Identify what it takes to be successful in your coveted field. Part of becoming a self-disciplined individual is grasping what it takes to be prosperous
•There will be days when you are tired, not in the mood, and shots just aren’t falling, but KEEP GOING.
•Purchase a journal, and use it to track your journey.
•If you want to be in the 1 percent of people, you must do what only 1 percent of people are willing to do.
“People think that I’m a four or five-star recruit, but I wasn’t. I didn’t start on the varsity team until my junior year. My peers around me—they were better athletes than I was.”
The first son to Marilyn Heard, Terrell Owens grew up in Alexander City, Alabama. He was raised by his mother and grandmother. When Marilyn was young, Alice, Terrell’s grandmother, raised her in a relatively restrictive environment. Marilyn was not allowed to play with the other children in the neighborhood and was forced to come straight home after school. Had she broken any of her mother’s rules, you can bet there were heavy repercussions.
Terrell was brought up no differently. He was whipped regularly and was not allowed to spend time with friends. There were often times where Owens would glance across the street and see his friends shooting hoops or throwing a ball around, but, because of his firm, unbending grandmother, Owens couldn’t do more than observe the kids having fun. Despite this, Terrell loved his grandmother, who taught him strength and truly made him into the person he has become today. In his emotional Pro Football Hall of Fame speech, Owens made sure the first people he thanked were his mother and late grandmother.
Ever since he was young, Owens was heavily active in sports. He played baseball and basketball, swam, ran track, and, of course, played football. However, the man who ranks third all-time in receiving touchdowns was not always the undisputed best player on the field.
As a high schooler, Owens did not regularly start on the varsity football team at Benjamin Russell High School until his senior year. In fact, during his junior year, Terrell was given the opportunity to get his first career start simply because the starter at his position got sick on the day of the game.
When he was in the lineup, a lanky Owens, wearing a jersey that appeared oversized because of his lack of muscle, turned into a solid receiver for the Wildcats.
While no big-name college football program had reached out to recruit Terrell, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga had taken notice. Not in a traditional way, however. While the Chattanooga coaches were breaking down film of one of Terrell’s teammates, they noticed the athletic Owens making a few plays and decided to offer him a scholarship.
Not only did he play football for the Mocs, but Owens was also the first man off the bench for the basketball team. During his senior year, Owens ran track after the coach invited him last minute. He went on to compete in the 4 x 100 relay at the NCAA championship.
However, it was on the football field where Owens truly made a name for himself. Despite the team winning just thirteen games during his four years at Chattanooga, Owens starred for the Mocs. He led the team in receiving yards in three straight seasons (1993–95) and, despite often being double covered by defenders, currently ranks third in the program’s history with 19 receiving touchdowns. So, how did a kid who didn’t regularly start on his high school team turn into a collegiate star? Simply put by Owens: “My desire, my dedication, and my discipline.”
For the majority of students, college vacation breaks are a glorious time. You get to go home to family and friends, catch up on some sleep, and not worry about dedicating much of your time to academics.
While all of his peers used the summer and winter breaks as vacation time away from the university, Owens decided to stay on campus. Coming from a lower-income family, it was tough for Owens to travel back to Alabama. Plus, he understood that there was nothing going on in Alexander City.
Eager to improve on his game, Terrell would beg his coaches for the keys to the gym. He said, “I wanted to get myself bigger, stronger, faster.” Despite no one being around to spot him, Owens grinded in the weight room. Bench press, squats, free weights, you name it. Sometimes struggling to get the bar off his chest during heavy workouts, Owens looked at this time in his life as nothing but positive. “Going through hard times is what made me stronger,” he said. “I took advantage of being on the campus by myself. I did the hard, grind work when no one was watching.” Owens later went on to state, “I wasn’t going to allow my circumstances to dictate my future.”
By his junior year at Chattanooga, Owens’s dominant play was catching the eyes of NFL scouts.
