Lacrosse is a lot of fun. Lacrosse equipment definitely makes you look cool or at least makes you feel like you look cool. It is certainly an interesting sport. The problem is to get good at it, you have to practice.
If you are like the typical American, there are just so many things going on in the standard day for you. There are all sorts of duties and responsibilities you have to attend to. As awesome as lacrosse practice may appear in theory, it seems like it easily falls between the cracks because, let us face it, something more pressing pops up. Life, after all, is what happens when you are making other plans. The best-laid plans always go up in smoke. That is just the way life is, right? Well, not quite.
There are certain things that you can do to make sure that you do not miss lacrosse practice or any other activity for that matter. While it is true that we are all busy, it does not necessarily mean that we have to have occupied mindsets. You have to remember that if you are busy, all it means is that you just need to manage your resources properly.
Time is a resource. With proper management skills, you would be surprised as to how much time you actually have. Let us get honest here for one second. When you are at work, I can guarantee that 80% of the time you spend at work is basically busy work that does not really lead to anything productive or meaningful. Am I right? How many times do you check email at work? How many hours do you screw around on Facebook at work?
I have made my case that the truth is if you were able to train your time management skills like a laser on your actual schedule, you would be surprised as to how much time you can free up. You would be surprised as to how much time you actually have at your disposal for activities like lacrosse practice. You just have to have this mindset that you are looking for spare time in your current schedule. If you automatically assume that your schedule is perfect the way it is set up, then you will not ever find that time.
Seriously. How can you automatically assume that everything that you are doing is optimized? You naturally believe that everything that you do at work and elsewhere involve time well spent. If you would only be completely honest with yourself and take a long hard look at your actual activities, you would realize that there is a lot of fath in your daily routine. Seriously.
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I learned this first hand. I learned that if you set a tight deadline for yourself, you work faster, and you also focus more intently, and this enables you to complete a wide range of tasks no matter how seemingly difficult in what appears to be a ridiculously short period of time.
In other words, how you manage your schedule is a reflection of your mindset. If you just have the right mindset, you would be able to find time for all sorts of activities like lacrosse practice and everything else. [/su_note]
Getting into the Right Mind Zone
I hope I have made it clear that your scheduling capabilities really all boil down to your mindset. Put simply, if you think something is important; you will find the time to do it. On the other hand, if you do not think it is essential, you will always come up with an excuse. Do you see how this works?
So, understand that for you to find time for lacrosse practice, you have to let yourself believe that practice is the only way you can step your game up. Understand this. Wrap your mind around this. Let this become your mantra. Why? This produces a sense of urgency. This produces a sense of intense emotional space that would then trigger your natural problem-solving skills.
That is how it works. If you think that something is not very important, you would be surprised as to how creative and imaginative you are in figuring out how to kick the can down the road as far as that item is concerned. Now, if you are to flip the script and to believe that a particular activity is very, very significant, then believe me, you will find the time for it.
Set a Schedule and Stick to It
Now that you have assumed that lacrosse practice is important because it steps up your game, and helps you become a better player, set a schedule for it. It does not have to be big. It does not have to be grand. What is important is that you set the schedule, and you stick to it.
Allow Yourself to Feel Disappointed if You do not Make it to Practice
This is where the rubber meets the road. If there is no emotional price to pay, then whatever task you set for yourself is simply an option. It is something that you can take or leave at any time, and it does not really matter all that much in the end. In other words, it is not essential.
Now, if your emotions were part of the mix, and you feel disappointed if you do not do something, then the emotional letdown provides you with an incentive to live up to your commitment to yourself. If you allow yourself to feel disappointed on missing lacrosse practice, then it becomes real enough to you. At some level in your mind, it becomes there is some sort of punishment if you were to slack off. This way, you gain a tremendous sense of urgency so you are more likely to do what you need to do make sure you show up on time for lacrosse practice.
Focus on the Discipline you are Building
In addition to the benefits of lacrosse practice as far as your game is concerned, pay attention to the big picture. What does it mean to show up to lacrosse practice time after time, day after day like clockwork? What is the big deal? Well, first of all, it helps you build discipline. According to research studies, kids who have music training or play some sort of music instrument requires them to practice on schedule day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year tend to become more successful in life. This should not be a surprise because when you are forced to practice, even though the word is not immediately felt or achieved you learn how to sacrifice. You learn to look at the big picture.
You learn to delay gratification. I hope you do not need me to remind you of how important delayed gratification is as far as life success is concerned because in study after study, kids who turn into adults who have a high sense of delayed gratification tend to make more money; they tend to live in bigger houses; they tend to be happier; they tend to travel quite extensively; they tend to be more educated; on and on down the line, and all it boils down to is a simple decision. Am I going to eat my cake today or am I able to hold off until tomorrow so I can get a bigger cake? That is all life’s success really boils down to, and this has everything to do with lacrosse practice because when you show up to practice lacrosse, it may seem like a chore.
It may seem like you have a million other things to attend to and you really do not have all the time in the world, but if you were able to train your mind like a laser to do your best at the point in time, time after time, you would be able to apply this mental skill to all areas of your life. By just
focusing on the fact that you have stuck to a promise you made to yourself, enables you to keep your word with other people. This makes you trustworthy and opens a lot of doors for you. This enables you to become a person of integrity. More people would trust you; more people would invest in you. Do you see how this works?
It is all about commitment, sacrifice and discipline. They all go hand in hand. In fact, I would say that they are joined at the hip. If you were to unlock the power of these virtues through consistent lacrosse practice, the world opens up to you. You have to operate at this level so you can get the emotional incentive to operate at a high level of emotional urgency in order for you not to miss a practice ever.