How can I manage my career?
Key Learnings
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Setting a clear and precise objective helps you to concentrate your efforts and gets you heading in the right direction.
Divide your goals by time slots: (a) lifetime goals; (b) career goals; (c) season goals.
By making better use of your time, you can achieve your goals much more easily.
Prioritise tasks based on importance and urgency and remove non-essential activities.
Making good choices is crucial for success as much of your earning potential is related to your reputation on and off-the-court.
Only use the advice of others to inform your decision-making process – don’t rely on it as the sole basis for your final decision. You are ultimately responsible for the decisions you make.
Networking is the art of building alliances and can help you get a job, find a sponsor, make new friends, get new ideas, etc.
Preparing for your professional life after basketball is just as important as your current career on-the-court.
During your basketball career, you can invest in your development through part-time education.

Goal setting pitfalls and how to avoid them

Goal setting is a powerful practice that can ignite enthusiasm and provide clear direction. However, goal setting is not easy, and many people fail to set and achieve their goals. The main reason is that they have fallen into one of the many pitfalls of the goal setting process. 

  1. Goal setting becomes about the plan, not the execution
    A potential downside of goal setting can occur when the amount of time, energy and creativity that goes into creating your goals outweighs the actual management of those goals. While the act of making a plan is important, the follow-up is even more critical. Constant progress and regular review is what makes any plan a reality.
     
  2. Too many goals make nothing a priority
    Keeping your goals to a manageable number is important – 5 to 7 is advised. With too many goals it becomes difficult to determine which goals are most important to accomplish next. Signs of having fallen into this goal setting trap include:

                   •  Never feeling as if you complete a task
                   •  Experiencing difficulty tying your goal to a reward system that recognises your accomplishments
                   •  Not knowing what goal takes top priority
                   •  Checking tasks off a list without integrating those actions into a long-term plan

    Keeping the total goals manageable, yet covering all of the foundational elements of your life, allows you to prioritise what is important without feeling overwhelmed.
     

  3. Personal goals take a back seat

Personal goals are likely to be affected by procrastination as there are no deadlines and no coach telling you to get it done. Your future beyond basketball depends on setting and achieving personal goals – which are up to you to set and accomplish. Procrastinate long enough and you risk to never go back to the personal goals you have set for yourself.