Everyday we face challenges that when we view them in their entirety, they are enormous. They are a tidal wave of negative power that floods our hearts and minds with stress, and dampens our attitude and disposition with pessimism. We need not battle all our tasks and responsibilities at the same time. We need not tackle the cell phone, IPod, T.V., email, teleconference, practice, or homework assignment all at the same time. We need not multitask. We need to advance ourselves one step at a time with ferocious focus on the present.
One often hears those in offices, in classrooms, and in homes boast about the ability to multitask, and although one might be envious of another’s ability to juggle a variety of responsibilities Time magazine cites the ills of multitasking and the importance of focus. Our basketball program, players, managers, and coaches, must strive to be the best of the best one moment at a time. To help us accomplish this, I would like to adopt the phrase taken from a unique 19th century journalist, photographer, and reformer Jacob Riis – Pound the Rock! He states: “I…..look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before."
Persistence is key. If we want to build lasting legacies that span generations and centuries, we must ‘pound the rock’. Others have done it. We must keep ‘pounding the rock’. Mr. Foster ‘pounded the rock’ amidst mediocrity. Cal Ripken Jr. ‘pounded the rock’ with 2,632 straight days at work throughout 16 years. Michelangelo ‘pounded the rock’ from 1508-1512. Lewis and Clark ‘pounded the rock’ for over 4000 miles. Frederick Douglas ‘pounded the rock’ for 77 years. And Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers ‘pounded the rock’ for 14 years.
Now we get to! We get to go to work: one drill, one repetition, one possession, one homework assignment, one sprint, one class, one task, one phone call, one email, one game, and one day at a time. Before we know it, together we will have built everlasting memories. Pound the rock dogs! Pound the rock!
One often hears those in offices, in classrooms, and in homes boast about the ability to multitask, and although one might be envious of another’s ability to juggle a variety of responsibilities Time magazine cites the ills of multitasking and the importance of focus. Our basketball program, players, managers, and coaches, must strive to be the best of the best one moment at a time. To help us accomplish this, I would like to adopt the phrase taken from a unique 19th century journalist, photographer, and reformer Jacob Riis – Pound the Rock! He states: “I…..look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before."
Persistence is key. If we want to build lasting legacies that span generations and centuries, we must ‘pound the rock’. Others have done it. We must keep ‘pounding the rock’. Mr. Foster ‘pounded the rock’ amidst mediocrity. Cal Ripken Jr. ‘pounded the rock’ with 2,632 straight days at work throughout 16 years. Michelangelo ‘pounded the rock’ from 1508-1512. Lewis and Clark ‘pounded the rock’ for over 4000 miles. Frederick Douglas ‘pounded the rock’ for 77 years. And Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers ‘pounded the rock’ for 14 years.
Now we get to! We get to go to work: one drill, one repetition, one possession, one homework assignment, one sprint, one class, one task, one phone call, one email, one game, and one day at a time. Before we know it, together we will have built everlasting memories. Pound the rock dogs! Pound the rock!
