ONE GOOD PASS DESERVES ANOTHER

When I was in college, my hockey coach was notorious for some pretty creative one-liners. Some of them were positive and productive, some of them were downright brutal, but regardless of how they made you feel as a player, a lot of them stuck. Since graduating, I’ve let go of the negative ones but I’ve held on to the ones that seemed to carry quality life lessons and now, shockingly, I’m going to share one with you.
“One good pass deserves another.”
He would yell it to us at the start of a drill before we even took off with the puck. His mindset was that if the first pass was tape-to-tape, then it would increase the likelihood that the second pass would be good too. But conversely, he was warning us that if we didn’t get the first pass done correctly, we were likely to fall apart at some point during the drill.
It was a momentum thing. It was about setting out on the right foot. And frankly it applies to what we’re doing right now in the 365 Challenge.
Every morning when you wake up, you have choices to make. Some of them are bigger than others, and in fact, some of them might seem downright inconsequential. But I don’t think there are any inconsequential decisions at a time like this, while you struggle through reshaping your body and restoring your mind. In fact, I think my coach’s adage hold infinitely true, with one small change in diction.
“One good decision deserves another.”
Getting up when your alarm goes off and not pressing snooze is a good decision. It means you’ll have a few extra minutes to relax before you head out, or make breakfast before work. Taking the time to plan your meals for the day mean you won’t find yourself at 12:10, starving, invited to lunch at Pizza Hut (no disrespect, but you get what I’m saying) and not alternative. Getting up and moving your body a few times throughout the day might mean pushing back the afternoon lull which can often carry people every lazy direction but to their workout. Getting a workout in means sleeping well, proud of your effort that day, increased self-esteem and excitement for another chance to improve. Sleeping well means not needing to hit snooze on the alarm the next morning.
The point is, you’ve chosen to take this challenge. Nobody is forcing you to do it. You want to do it, to make changes and feel better. But the world is full of distractions and forces, which can knock you off rhythm. So to offset those forces, start to look at your day and your momentary decisions as tipping points, a forecasting measure for the rest of your day, week, month, year, life.
We will falter. We will stumble. To do so is to be human. But you’re never more than one good decision away from feeding into another
Good luck on the rest of week 2!