EYE ON THE BALL, NOT BALL ON THE EYE

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EYE ON THE BALL, NOT BALL ON THE EYE
-Personal Development from Tennis Court

I have admired the game of Tennis for a very long time and had considered sometime in the future. In 2017, I was fortunate to have a direct boss who plays Tennis well. My boss motivated me and purchased some kits in preparation to start learning. Somehow, I procrastinated and never got to start learning. In 2020 however, as we grateful eased out of the COVID-19 lockdown, I switched and decided to change direction. Emerging from the sedentary lockdown, I was fresh, plum and a bit above my expected body mass index. It was apparent that I had to increase physical exercise. Taking advantage of this situation, I brought out my scanty kit, went out in search of a court and a coach and I started learning in November 2020. 

Now, it is November 26, 2022, two years on. I decided to sit back to reflect and document what my journey has been like on the court and some of the lessons I draw from my trainings. I attempt to make it concise as possible for your pleasure and your feedback. In this release, let us consider the ten points below. 

1. Crack it! Thanks to Nike, this is one of the best advertising lines I have seen. Almost all the reasons I had for not playing tennis from 2017 were still there in 2020 and even now in 2022. There will most likely be not perfect time to start doing the things that would give you the best of life adventures. So, get out there and do it afraid, do it in faith. The first step is your call absolutely. Just do it. 

2. Coach. While you try your hand on developing new capacity, you need a guide, an expert, a mentor, or a coach. The coach is someone who could show you the techniques, enhance your strength, help you manage your blind spot, nudge, and cheer you on. Get a coach, get a mentor. This is very important. 

3. Court. The court is the platform of engagement, of demonstration and yet development. For every skill you develop, you need a platform to proof the concept. Be on the lookout for such opportunities and embrace them with gratitude and honor. Value your platform, someone paid for it. 

4. Club. The club is your social or professional environment. You must be intentional in choosing your circle or your environment based on your capability and interest. These are the people you collaborate, compete, and celebrate with. They are very important mix for your feedback and your growth. 

5. Consistency. I realize that when I am more consistent at going to the court, my love, skill, delivery, and love on the game rise significantly. Training and practice are important part of the roadmap to mastery. However, for you to deconstruct and reconstruct your habit, mindset, and skillset you need to build in consistency. Create time to build precept upon precept, you will habit-set, skill-set and mind-set soon enough. Be consistent, the sweet spot is within your racquet. 

6. Counterattacks. I feel really good when I return a serve or give a sweet shot. You’ll hear the encouraging applause from the sideline. Cool, yes! I would be taking it in and try to pull myself back. In split of seconds the ball is back in my court and then a miss. Keep the ball moving. Then the coach would say always be ready for counter attacks. When return a good shot you either encourage or provoke you opponent to return even more stamina. In your personal development, when you hack a competence, an opportunity, or a growth, stabilize quickly and get going, and get ready for another opportunity. Sometimes, the things are in strings that you do not want to break. 

  Bonus: Focus…. One early morning, I was on the court with daughter to train. My coach and started rallying and became intense. Then occasionally you hear my couch say ‘eye on the ball’ to keep me focused. Unfortunately, I lost focus and mishit a backhand and the ball spinning into my left eye. Pained, I heard my daughter watching on the sideline, ‘Eye on the ball daddy, not ball on the eye” she screamed. Reflecting on my daughters later, I thought to myself that she was right. That when you in the game, be all in. In career of business, If you are focused, you will hit the sweet spot of opportunities but with lack of focus you may hurt yourself when opportunities present. 

These are the initial personal development lessons I am tracking from my tennis experience. I hope you will find it useful until I bring the follow on parts.
Location: Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

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