Win the next 10 minutes of your life
10 minutes don't seem like a lot but once you start to think like an athlete you'll understand that chances lie in every second of the game called life.
December 4, 2009: my two favourite basketball teams were facing each other in a brutal game in Los Angeles. Lakers vs. Heat. Kobe Bryant vs. Dwyane Wade. It is the 4th and final quarter, with 3.2 seconds left in the game. The Miami Heat are up by 2, leading the game 107:105. The Lakers are in possession of the ball and need to get it to their star player, Kobe Bryant, for a chance to win the game. The Heat know that so they have two players guarding Kobe who's struggling to break free. Then somehow, Kobe finds a window through the two defenders, gets the ball from his team mate Ron Artest, dribbles towards the center of the court, then towards the 3-point line, with Dwyane Wade right in front of him, shoulder-to-shoulder. With only 1.0 seconds left on the shot clock, Kobe pushes his way forward, jumps off on his left foot, soars into the air, rising above Wade and launches the ball towards the basket. Everyone in the arena is up on their feet as the ball hits the backboard and goes straight through the rim. Every single hand in the arena goes up in the air in excitement and astonishment as everyone just witnessed greatness in its purest form.
As a top athlete you train to win. And no matter if you have 3 minutes or 3 seconds left, every shot and every second counts. But even as non-professional athletes there is so much to learn from the great. If you are the type of person who wants to do more in life and wishes that you had more time to do all the things you want to do, then start with winning the next few minutes of your life. Day after day, you have many small windows of opportunities that you can seize. Those windows might be 3 seconds, 3 minutes or even 10 minutes. 10 minutes might not seem like a lot for most of us. But when you think of Kobe Bryant winning a game in 3.2 seconds and creating an unforgettable moment for millions of people around the world, are 10 minutes really not enough for you to do something that adds values or takes you one step further towards your goal Whether it's making someone else's day by saying hello to a stranger on the street and giving them a smile, texting your loved one to show that you care, or taking care of yourself by doing a quick mindfulness practice or 30 pushups, all of these examples take 2 minutes or less. Do you wish you could read more books? Leave the book in the toilet. Reading for 5 minutes a day will take you so much further than putting it off all the time.
The mindset and actions of great athletes can be applied by any normal human being. Just yesterday, I had a workout planned in my calendar but due to unforeseen issues at work I had to sacrifice the time I had blocked for my workout. I tried to hurry up, writing my emails as fast as I could but the clock just kept ticking and ticking. Of the 45 minutes I had blocked I was already down to 27 minutes, and the longer it took me to finish my important work the less motivated I became to work out at all. When I was finally ready I only had 10 minutes left...no way I could do my planned workout in 10 minutes! But being a die-hard Kobe Bryant have (R.I.P.) I said to myself: "If I can't do what I had planned to do then what can I still do right now to maintain my fitness?". I ended up with 3 sets of 10 pull-ups and 10 bench presses. Did I feel bad that I couldn't get a full workout in? A little bit. But did I feel better because I did a little bit than nothing at all? Hell yeah. Did my body and mind benefit from the ultra-short physical input? You bet they did. Having seized those 10 minutes gave me the feeling that I was still in control of my time and health. Had I not done my quick workout I could have fallen out of my routine of being active at least 4 times per week. And being active is not about moving for as much time as possible but rather doing it consistently, even when other things come up. That's how life goes: there's always something that comes up, whether it's another urgent task or a sleepless night. There will always be something that messes with your plans. But when it comes to taking care of your health, consistency is key. Best-selling author James Clear said "Exercising for 10 minutes doesn’t seem valuable when you see world records posted on Instagram. But winning the next 10 minutes is its own form of greatness.".
What windows of opportunity can you spot in your daily life? Think like an athlete and make every second count.
In case we haven't met: nice to meet you! I'm Tommy and my mission is to help people live a healthier life through movement coaching, accountability, and health optimisation hacks. I'm also a creator and marketer: I created and launched a $200K crowdfunding product, several food products into retail, among other things. You can contact me here.