It’s now 10 days into the year 2009 but do you have any New Year’s resolutions for basketball training? If you haven’t, let me save you the remaining 355 days and help you get on track .

Each one of us has goals in life like becoming wealthy or getting a high paying job or even buying that new Kobe shoe (I don’t care what people say, I like it). Even though you can achieve all of the above if you work for it, you are getting $#%@ unless you set goals with deadlines. A goal without a deadline is simply a dream that ultimately leads to disappointment and I know you want to run faster or be able to dunk but you have to put deadlines to those goals to really help you get there.

I want you to stop right now. Go get a sheet of paper; from the printer, the scrap of paper lying in front of you, whatever. write down when you want to be able to accomplish this goal of yours. This is simple but effective. Write this down as big as you can:

I, ______(Name), will be able to ______(Your Goal) by __________(Date)

This piece of paper is dictating what you will accomplish. I didn’t say what you might accomplish, but what you will accomplish. I know I might be sounding more and more like a life coach but trust me, this will help you become a better player if you do this exercise. If you read by it and still haven’t wrote it down, do it now. So, now that you have your goal written, take another sheet of paper….I’m waiting….ok and write down what your next actionable steps are. This simply means, what do you have to do next in order to accomplish your goals? This is an example of a list:

• · Find a proven vertical training program

• · Have 5-6 nutritional meals a day

• · Sleep 1 hour early to get a full nights rest

• · Keep a water bottle on me at all times

This list might not look like your list because you might already have a vertical program you bought, you might already eat 5-6 meals a day and drink more than enough water, but what’s next? You have to ask yourself, what’s stopping me from achieving my goals for basketball training? Is it a lack of time? My health? Lack of a gym or access to weights? You have to dig and find the answers.

Now, this is what you have:

• A concrete goal that you are more than willing to accomplish

• The next steps you can take right now to accomplish those goals

Isn’t this a much better New Year’s resolution than “get healthy”? Anyways, at this point, the only thing stopping you from your goals is…you guessed it, YOU. I have guided you quickly through searching for your desired goal, making it concrete by writing it down and taking the next actionable steps. Take advantage of this and let me know if this helps you.

PS: You know what I think but what do you think?

Does writing your goals help you or do you think it’s a waste of time?