Put Yourself in A Position to Score

When I was in high school I was the kicker for the football team. We weren’t very good. My senior year there was a game where my first kick of the game was to start the second half. To say the least, we weren’t scoring much.

Our coach would always say, “Let’s not focus on scoring just yet, let’s just focus on getting ourselves into a position to score first.”

I remember thinking it was such a funny (and kind of sad) way to inspire a team... we’re so bad we aren’t even thinking about scoring. Lit.

Fortunately, I don’t view the world in the same way as I did when I was in high school. My take on this advice and mindset is much different…

Now I do my best to put myself in a position to score as much as possible. Regardless of the situation - job search, busy day with lots of errands, or playing a game - you want to increase the chance of success as much as possible.

My bad, Coach Roan, for thinking it was dumb. You’re the man.

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Breaking down a larger goal into smaller goals is a great way to put yourself in a better position. When I was taking Education 92f (the course that is the foundation of my passion for

Goal Setting⁠

) we learned various traits about high achievers. High achievers sit in the front 4 of the class. High achievers ask questions. High achievers often have large visions, but more importantly, high achievers set intermediate goals. That’s what’s important here. If you want to achieve a lot, you should be willing to achieve a little a lot of times, rather than achieving a lot once or twice.

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On the other hand, you can also put yourself in a position to score by “punching above your weight” so to speak, and taking low percentage shots that require a low investment of time but could reap rewards.

Say you’re launching a podcast and want to speak to founders/VIPs of a specific industry. Take advantage of some

LinkedIn Tips⁠

and shoot a message to 50 people who are all a stretch to say yes to you. Sending those messages puts you in a position to score. You might go 0/50, but you’re undoubtedly increasing your chances of getting someone extraordinary on your podcast as well.

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Steph Curry expanded the range in which he was putting himself in a position to score and it ruined pick up basketball for everyone in the world. We all got used to seeing him shoot and make a shot 40% of the time from deep and thought that when we pull up from 30 feet at the park on double rims our shots would drop as well. We were wrong.

This is important because you must realize that although something is a high percentage shot for someone else doesn’t mean it’s a high percentage shot for you. Stick to lay-ups, kid.

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