I'm not really much of a sports fan, but I was reading an article about a recent NBA playoff game, and there was a term in the article I was kind of curious about. It was a coach calling certain situations "50-50 balls."
From the context, I took the term to mean loose-ball situations in which neither team had possession and each team had a "50-50" chance of getting to the ball. I did some quick internet research and found that it's a term in soccer, too. A "50-50" ball is one that neither team has, but each has a chance to get to.
It's cliche in sports, especially, but it would seem to me that situations like this come down to -- as the announcers might say -- "who wants it more?"
I would think that winning 50-50 balls is a hustle stat. A desire thing. When the ball is up for grabs, who will run harder, jump higher, dive further or sacrifice their body more to get it?
It occurred to me that there's a parallel between this kind of scenario in sports and in the rest of our lives. When there's a 50-50 ball, how bad do you want it? What kind of effort do you put forth to make sure more 50-50 balls go your way than don't?
I would think there are plenty of times in our businesses or careers, in family situations and with our investments that an outcome could go one way or another. What I wonder is how many people, when faced with a such a situation, let chance or luck determine which way it goes. I would think that successful people, when faced with such a situation, turn things up a notch and try to influence which way the outcome goes.
I know I do. I try to stack the deck in my favor every way I can. It takes effort -- just like diving for loose balls in sports. You sacrifice, you risk going out of your comfort level, so that you can affect the outcome postively. Unlike a coin flip, which truly IS a 50-50 proposition, other 50-50 scenarios aren't purely up to chance.
Coming in early or staying late to do a better job than the next guy could influence whether you get that promotion. An extra hour or two each week devoted to marketing in your business could determine whether you get those extra sales. Having that conversation with your child, even when you feel too tired to have it, could be the difference he or she needs right now.
Things like careers and family relationships -- they're too important to leave up to chance. When there are "50-50" scenarios in these aspects of our lives, we HAVE to be like the basketball or soccer players who use extra hustle and effort to win them. We can't simply expect things to go our way.
We need to run harder, dive on the floor and out-work the next guy, so that we MAKE more 50-50 scenarios go our way.
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