3-2-1: On living with lightness, the root cause of sin, and how to compete without losing yourself

"Dreams are fun when they are distant. The imagination loves to play with possibilities when there is no risk of failure.

But when you find yourself on the verge of action, you pause. You can feel the uncertainty of what lies ahead. Thoughts swirl. Maybe this isn't the right time? Failure is possible now.

In that moment—in that short pause that ari... See more

"When you're on the field, play as if nothing else matters.

When you're off the field, remember that the game doesn't matter at all."

The difference between seriousness and sincerity is not how involved you are in the activities of your life, but in how tightly you grip. In fact, I would go even further still: Gripping less tightly can unlock better performance and with much less effort, as I’ve written about before. Simple activities, like playing catch, floating in a pool, or b... See more

Everyone has found themselves outmatched by an opponent, frustrated by some skill or attribute they have that we don’t—height, speed, vision, whatever. How we choose to respond to that struggle tells us about who we are as athletes and who we’ll be as people. Do we see it as a chance to learn and get stronger? Do we get frustrated and complain? Or

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If you live for the highest goal, you are living a life of the spirit—whether or not you consider yourself to be on a spiritual path. If you consciously notice the larger aspects of life, always consider whether what you are doing coincides with these aspects, never forget the times when you were enlivened by the power of the highest goal, use thos

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another opportunity to remember what we’re playing for, instead of fixating on what we’re trying to protect. It’s an opportunity to embrace the messiness of the creative process and get over ourselves. When we understand what the process is like, we can make a choice. Am I going to play defense my entire life so that I can protect my comfort and se

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"Big wins tend to be accompanied by some combination of bigger decisions, more uncertainty, and greater risk.

If you want to play at a higher level, you need to be comfortable with greater swings of highs and lows: mentally, emotionally, financially.

You can avoid the swings, but you might be forced to play at a lower level."

Compulsion. I think about that word a lot. I believe that all of us, carelessly walking about planet earth, are intrinsically compelled to do something . It’s in our nature, in the shape of our soul. To excel, to truly be the best, I think it’s crucial to spend time thinking about what that is. Because if you do something other than that, you’re no... See more