Whether athletes achieve their goals seems intricately connected to their feelings about themselves. Coaches over the years have seen body language, a lack of energy, and fear of making a mistake result in poor performance just as players have noticed how their self-talk, mental imagery, and focus on specific objectives contribute to their success. LeBron James dropped thirty-one points in the first half on Portland tonight but the Trail Blazers reversed their fortunes by coming out for the second half with much more determination. They moved the ball and took better shots. They played improved team defence and curtailed Cleveland’s …
Talent Myopia
In 1960, Theodore Levitt published Marketing Myopia, a seminal article for the Harvard Business Review that highlighted how a narrow understanding and a refusal to accept change doomed a number of business empires. Companies ranging from electric street car manufacturers that didn’t understand the effect of the automotive industry to dry cleaners who did not cope with the development of new synthetic fabrics were criticized. The same problems also manifest themselves away from the business world, on the basketball court, where players get caught up with their own abilities and misunderstand their role in the sport. Self-Deceiving Cycle: There is …