Amidst the hustle and bustle of the holidays, December also ushered in the start of the high school basketball season. My son, Collin, is playing on the freshman team this year, but this quick tip isn’t about him. It’s about one of his teammates.

swishDuring the off season, one of my son’s teammates injured the wrist on his shooting-hand. Unfortunately, it hasn’t fully healed yet, but you would never know it sitting in the stands. See, this boy loves basketball and he wants to play very, very badly. So he decided to find a way to play, even with a shooting wrist that wasn’t at full capacity. How did he do it? He shot 1000 shots a day using his other hand! Think about that for a minute: a thousand shots a day with his non-dominant hand. That is a whole lot of shots and a whole lot of determination to make an outcome happen.

I hope you’ll keep this story in mind as you begin thinking about the New Year ahead, and set your 2014 goals. As you set each goal, consider how badly you want it. What would you be willing to do to make that goal happen?

The only sure thing about setting goals and going for them is that there will be obstacles along the way – injuries, new demands on your time, and other unexpected detours that throw you off-course. Recognize today that these obstacles will happen, and then, decide now that you want your goal badly enough that you will figure out a way to make it happen.

Aby