Archive for August, 2009

Take the Game Winning Shot (Part 2)

Monday, August 31st, 2009

Take the Game Winning Shot (Part 2)

After writing the script for Rocky 1, Sylvester Stallone wanted to play the lead role in the movie. He was repeatedly turned down. Finally one producer was willing to buy the script, but only if they could hire another actor to play the part of Rocky Balboa. They did not want Stallone for the part and thought he would be a failure. Stallone refused even though he was practically broke and at times did not have enough to eat and pay his bills. The company kept raising the price and offered him $300,000 for the script if they could hire a known actor to play Rocky. Again Stallone said no, he had to be Rocky. Finally they reduced their offer to $30,000 for the script and to allow Stallone to play the lead role.

They thought the movie was likely to fail with Stallone in the role.
Stallone accepted the $30,000 offer because this was his dream and the outcome he was pursuing. He fulfilled his desired outcome and the rest is history. Rocky 1 earned $200 million dollars and Stallone went on to make six Rocky movies and millions of dollars while living out his dream. Sylvester Stallone refused to give up on his goal. Like Rocky, he kept getting back up every time he was knocked down.

Be willing to go the extra mile for what you want. Don’t give up easily without a fight. You will miss some shots, but like Jordon and Stallone you will also achieve some of your biggest dreams.

Copyright 2009. Raymond Gerson

All the best,

Raymond Gerson

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Take the Game Winning Shot

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Take the Game Winning Shot (Part 1)

After missing thousands of shots in his career, a former basketball player admitted that he also lost hundreds of games and missed 26 game winning shots. Does this player sound like a loser and failure? Can you guess this basketball player’s name?

He is Michael Jordon, one of the greatest to ever play the game. Today he is remembered for his success on the court and not for the shots he missed.

The road to success includes failures, mistakes, and “missed shots.” None of us are perfect, but we can keep improving through our efforts. What if Michael Jordon had given up the game of basketball because of missed shots? What a loss that would have been for him, for his fans, and for the game of basketball. Fortunately he did not quit and went all out giving his very best effort day after day.

When you take a lot of shots or make many attempts to achieve your goals, you will miss the target from time to time. And it is also likely that you will sink some baskets, accumulate points, and win at the game of life.

Go for your dreams in the same way that Michael Jordon shot at the basket and pursued the game of basketball. Take your shots without concern about whether or not you miss your target now and then. Use your mistakes and so called “failures” as feedback for your improvement. Don’t give up easily on yourself or on your goals. If you want something enough it is worth working for with your whole heart.

Copyright 2009. Raymond Gerson

Best regards,

Raymond Gerson

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Focused Attention is a Key to Success

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

One of the secrets of successful people is their ability to focus on the task at hand. Concentrated attention is the key to achievement in sports, school, relationships, and in your career.

Concentrated attention is similar to the power of focusing the rays of the sun through a magnifying glass on to a piece of paper. It burns a hole through the paper because the sun’s rays are magnified. Similarly, you can magnify your results with concentrated attention.

Make a list of your priorities for each day. Tackle these tasks which you identified as important one-by-one. Treat each task that you are doing as the most important activity of the day. This will help you to be totally present in the here and now. Do each activity with enjoyment and enthusiasm if possible. If you are unable to be enthusiastic, at least do the activity with your attention until you have completed the task or reach an appropriate stopping point. Then scratch it off of your to-do list (if it is unfinished add it to tomorrow’s list) and approach your next priority in the same way. This may not sound cool in this age of multi-tasking, but it will give you excellent results.

Be like a scientist and try this approach of focusing your attention on one task at a time as an experiment to see if it works for you. I think that you will be pleased with the results.

Copyright 2009. Raymond Gerson

Best regards,

Raymond Gerson

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