Welcome back! We’re diving straight into our wins and wobbles this week for flow purposes. Let’s get it!
Weekly Wins
That NYC energy that I mentioned last week is still BOOMIN’. Usually it wears off after a day or two, but this time is different. Nearly a week later and I’m still feeling the high of the city. My work focus has been at an all-time high, my workouts have picked up in intensity, and I’ve been the productive version of myself I’ve been trying to become for a while.
I had the pleasure of being a guest on the AT L.A.S.T. podcast this week. Definitely check out that link because they’re doing AMAZING things in the LA community. I can’t wait to share it with you all because it’s a snapshot of how much I’ve been able to grow in the last year mentally. I’m hell bent on giving back and creating opportunities for the next generation so this was aligned with that.
Weekly Wobble
As someone who benefitted from the SNAP program growing up and while unemployed in 2020, this government shutdown really bothers me. I’ve organized a small food pickup in LA to gather canned goods to donate, but it’s just a small drop in the ocean. It’s one of those situations where you wish you had billions to make a much bigger impact. Knowing that there are millions of people out there who won’t have food on their table this month is just sad.
If you’re in LA, hit me up!
Hopefully you haven’t been as turned around by Daylight Savings Time as me 😅 With the sun dropping before 6p, I’ve found myself in bed before 10p half of the days this week.
My Oura ring even wondered if I had let someone else wear my ring for a couple of days. My unsolicited, contrarian take? I’m not mad at it. Older adults might’ve been on to something this entire time.
With them in mind, let’s bestow some wisdom they’ve likely known for a long time: there are no twenty-point shots.
Let’s start with the obvious. I think we all know this and if you had no clue, now you do. But, for those who’ve been subscribed for a while know we like to go several layers deeper with our concepts. Time to put on those imagination caps, I’m going to put you in a movie scene.
You open your eyes and you’re in the middle of a packed arena. The first thing you notice is how bright the lights are. As your vision adapts to your surroundings, the sound of the roaring crowd begins to get louder. You look down and you have the ball in your hands, which are entirely too sweaty for it just being a basketball game. I’m talking the kind of sweat Eminem rapped about.
“Palms are sweaty, knees weak…”
As you scan the environment for more clues, you glance at the scoreboard. The sweat makes a lot more sense now… you’re down 19 points at the start of the 4th quarter. To make matters worse, you’re playing against your biggest rival and the winner goes to the championship game tomorrow night.
You’ve got 12 minutes to make up 19 points and win this game. Impossible? Absolutely not. Extremely difficult, definitely. Now that we’ve set the scene, let’s pull you out of the VR nightmare and discuss the concept at hand.
As humans, we all look at that score and want to get it back all at once. Whether it’s trying to score twenty points on one play, trying to lose twenty pounds in one week, or trying to get that promotion by just writing a glowing self-review at performance review time.
As someone who’s actually failed at all three of those real-life scenarios, I’ll tell you it is impossible to pull it off. Not because of your skill, but rather how the game or your circumstances are set up.
Fulfilling success isn’t attainable overnight. It’s actually gained one painfully progressive point at a time. However, most still want that twenty point basket to circumvent the journey. So how do you actually make up that 19-point deficit? Let me give you a new perspective that changed how I think about success.
A little something I call “The Balanced Scorer” mentality.
Here’s a secret from a former pro hooper. When you need to make up a 19-point deficit in 12 minutes, you’re going to have to get creative. You’ll need scoring diversity.
Basketball teams have specialists. You've got your three-point shooters like Steph Curry spacing the floor. You've got your paint scorers like Giannis Antetokounmpo dominating inside. And then you've got the rare players like Kevin Durant or LeBron James who can hurt you from anywhere on the court.
We don’t miss over here!
Yet, when you're down 19, you need BOTH. Why? Because defenses adapt. If you only shoot threes, they'll chase you off the three point line. If you only score inside, they'll clog the paint. Single-dimensional players get shut down when the pressure's on.
The same is true in life and business.
Your hard skills are your two-pointers, the reliable fundamentals. These are things that feel second nature after decades of practice and refining like technical abilities, certifications, measurable competencies.
Your soft skills are your three-pointers, the high-value relationship plays. They may look like communication, emotional intelligence, reading a room, or building trust. Skills that require a higher level of concentration and overall reps.
Most people are specialists. Really good at technical stuff, but struggle with people. Or amazing connectors who lack technical/subject depth. When the game is on the line, single-dimensional players struggle. When you become two-dimensional, good at both twos and threes, you become nearly impossible to defend. But that means you have to work on your game from everywhere.
Lost your job? Hard skills get you interviews, soft skills get you hired. As someone who’s worked in recruiting, I saw it all the time from candidates who got interviewed. You’ve got to be able to score both “twos and threes” at a high rate in today’s labor market.
Leading through a crisis? Strategic thinking provides direction, emotional intelligence keeps the team together. These are things that separate the superstars from those just on the team. Can your team trust you to take and make the shot when the game is on the line? Make or miss, preparation gives you the confidence to take the shot.
Making up 19 points isn't about one miracle shot. It's about having multiple ways to score, consistently, under pressure. That's what I call becoming a Balanced Scorer.
Balanced ball is life…
This week’s homework is to look at the first 3 quarters of 2025. Have you been primarily scoring from one spot? Or have you tried to expand your game?
Be honest with yourself. If you've been a specialist, that's okay, but the fourth quarter is when balanced scorers separate themselves. You've got 7 weeks left. Pick one dimension you've been ignoring and commit to one small rep every day. That's how comebacks happen… one point at a time.
Have a great week and I’ll talk to you next Sunday 🏁
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