The Anatomy of the Choke (II)

Hey! I wrote some stuff. Watch it. Read it. Love it... Thank me later:Life is nothing more than a collection of moments that form an evolving definition of who you are based on both how you act during those moments and how you REact after them (Read that again. That was dope). Some of these moments are more important than others. Thus, they have greater defining potential. In such times, the outcome can be simplified into two categories: success or failure.

I wanna talk about this because so often in sports we see these defining moments either make or break a player. The term for the latter has been coined as "the choke" and, for many, it's that silent fart in a room full of execs; something no one wants deal with even though the possibility for it to occur is always lurking whether we acknowledge it or not. However, if not dealt with, it can lead to loads (pun?) of humiliation.

In life, when we find ourselves in these defining moments, it is important that we are able to be successful in them and thus, take one more step toward the idealized image we have for ourselves. In order to do this, we must know the 5 components that make up any defining moment and thrive in them: [Hit the jump to find out just what they are]

1. Pressure
2. Opportunity
3. Action
4. Outcome
5. Reaction

Before I get into these, let me define what a "Defining Moment" is right quick. A defining moment is any piece of your life that you deem important. It is not reduced to simply big pressure moments where people are watching. Sure, those moments may define you more than the smaller ones, but a lotta small things add up to big ones. A defining moment could be as simple as getting out of bed in the morning or as complex as completing your thesis paper that you need to graduate in you major and everything in between.

Pressure:

As soon as we recognize a moment in our lives as a defining one, however big or small, we are immediately jumped and clawed by a rampant monkey known as Pressure. We are trained to think of Pressure as the enemy, the unfair burden that holds us down. This monkey comes equipped with a compilation of the awful and the impossible, a sort of "greatest hits" of unreasonable expectations and complete bummers: Traffic is heavy, you have a report due tomorrow on a topic you know nothing about, your "girl" wants to "talk" about "your relationship" (smh), you got mad bills due, your coach doesn't like you... Pressure. This is the reason a lot of people fail, because they "buckle under pressure" (that monkey is no joke, I swear).

I love how athletes always get up in post game interviews and talk about "there was no pressure for me" or "the pressure is all on the other team," THAT'S BULLS***. The pressure is there whether you acknowledge it or not. Pressure can come from many different places: expectations from parents, bill collectors, pressure from friends etc., but at the end of the day pressure comes from YOU. That's right. It's an involuntary excrement of the human body that indicates opportunity and precedes success. Therefore, when we see that damn pressure monkey, rather than shun him, we should embrace him because he only comes when there is. . .

Opportunity:

No matter how we approach pressure, it inevitably leads us to opportunity. How we use that opportunity is up to us. Seize the moment! This is why I've come to love pressure. I get excited, because there's that feeling that I am on the verge of achieving something that I wanted. Whenever we get close to achieving something we want there is pressure punctuated by opportunity. When you are able to see things in this light it's amazing how your outlook on life will change because now you know where that anxiety is coming from. All that's left to do is take. . .

Action:

This part is simple but probably the hardest. . . ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING! You've assessed the situation, you see the opportunity before you, now figure out what you need to do and ACT on it. That means, if your goal is to get to class/work on time, the action is actually getting out of bed when ur alarm goes off. This is the part of the moment that everybody sees. The apex of the moment.

Sure, there is still the possibility that you fail and fall flat on your face, SO WHAT! There's an equal possibility that you succeed and come out on top. That's a great feeling. Either way, you have a better opportunity for success if you ACT rather than watch life pass you by. This is the first (stay tuned there's one more) point of growth because it is when you choose to (Wo)Man up, take responsibility for your action and prepare yourself to deal with the. . .

Outcome:

Make sure you get this, because it is extremely important: AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE ACTION, YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO FURTHER CONTROL OVER THE OUTCOME. It's done, you've put it out there and let the chips fall where they may. It's out of your hands. This is the part of the moment that turns action into reaction. I pray that your outcome is success. It is one of the best feelings ever and when we achieve it, no matter the magnitude, it motivates us to want to achieve it again. However, if your outcome is failure that does not signal the end of your moment because we are truly defined by our. . .

Reaction:

Life is 10% what happens, 90% how you react to it. Is that cliché as hell?... YES. Is that true as hell?... YES. So many times, we see people let either failure or success affect them in a way that keeps them from ever having that opportunity again. It is our responsibility to learn from failure. Examine it and see why it happened. Was it something you could control? This will serve as inspiration for the next time you are faced with a challenge. Sometimes defeats are more triumphant than victories. Conversely, there are times when people allow success to go to their heads and forget the steps that got them there. So no matter what your outcome, it is important that we learn from it and use it as fuel for future endeavors. This is the second point of growth.

I say all that to say this: Life happens regardless of what you do, but if you listen, LIVE (that means do something), and then learn, then life might eventually happen the way YOU want it to.

I feel like Rev Run at this point. . . but I kinda like it.