Why was routine so important to him? Because the games themselves were so unpredictable. Not uncontrollable, but unpredictable. And controlling the unpredictable was his specialty.

A routine may allow you to set a portion of your journey on autopilot, but to get to your ultimate destination, you’re going to need total control over the outcome.

If you can’t

Not all of those mines are cruelly harsh; they can also be dangerously kind: You should take the day off. You work too hard. You’re better than the others. They have no chance. You’ve already won. Relax, enjoy. Don’t take everything so seriously.

If you’re always reading self-help books and listening to motivational talkers and following inspirational geniuses on social media and podcasts, if you can’t make a decision without consulting mentors and masterminds… you’re being told what to think.

But some will excel, above and beyond, because they advanced their skills and their thinking. That’s the difference between learning what is handed to you, and understanding how to build on that.

master the fundamentals, you can’t master anything else.

That’s a major trait of the greats, by the way: They want to pass along their knowledge, so the next generation can keep learning. That’s the difference between competing and winning.

was our style of “load management”: managing his body to play the complete load of eighty-two regular season games, plus potentially twenty-six more in the playoffs as well as the preseason. How to think, not what to think.