Precision Conquers Power
One summer in middle school, I went to a basketball camp. It was run by Dell Curry, a former pro basketball player. We'd practice basketball skills, and occasionally play full court games. One of the players we played with was this little kid named Stephen Curry (Dell's son). He was the smallest player on the court, but I remember thinking he was pretty good for his size. He'd heave up these long shots that required almost all of his power, and they'd go in sometimes.
Stephen Curry grew up to become an NBA basketball player. Unfortunately for him, he's quite short (for the NBA), not very fast, one of the weakest players, and he can just barely dunk. Despite his physical limitations, Curry is the best basketball player in the world right now.
Last season, Curry won the league MVP award and his team won the NBA Championship. This season, he's on pace to do it again. But how does Stephen Curry dominate players that are stronger, faster, and more athletic than him?
His secret is precision.
Curry makes three point shots at a higher percentage than anyone else. His world-class dribbling skills make up for his average foot speed. His court vision and awareness make him an excellent passer and stealer of the basketball. In all aspects of his game, Curry seems just a hair more precise than other players. He seems to make all the right moves at the right times, and the result is complete domination of the league.
Many people focus on their power: how much energy they have, their strength, and what they can do physically. When they approach a situation, they will attempt to "give it their all." This is, more often than not, a mistake for one simple reason.
A force applied incorrectly is ineffective.
For every Stephen Curry, there have been hundreds of basketball players with dominant physical attributes who didn't have the skillset to make an impact. Precision conquers power.
The tagline of this blog is "creative strategies for lasting change," and the key word there is "strategies." A strategy is a specific way to apply a force. Those without strategies have less control over their energy, and that means they are more likely to miss the targets they want to hit, wasting time and energy in the process.
A crude yet accurate example of this is hammering a nail. It is far, far more important to hit the nail square on the head than it is to hit it with a lot of power. If you hit the nail hard with the hammer, but at the wrong angle, the nail will go in crooked or even bend under the misapplied force of the hammer. If you tap the nail lightly, but right in the center, your applied force will be maximized and the nail will go in straight.
How does this apply to life? Everywhere!
If there is an area in your life where you feel like you're trying really hard and getting nowhere, think about this concept. Some of us have this idea that effort is all that exists and matters. If something is wrong, try harder. If something isn't working, try harder. But effort is only half of the equation. Precision is the other half of the equation, and as the Stephen Curry and hammer examples suggest, it's the more important half.
Examples of Precision Over Force
Conversation: when talking to people, you should feel relaxed. It should not be a strain. You can put effort into listening and responding precisely, but I've realized a big difference between when I try to force social conversations to fit this "ideal conversation" mold in my head compared to just letting it unfold naturally. Socially adept people are good at this—they take everything in stride and don't try too hard to control the direction of conversation. This makes everyone around them more relaxed.
I've noticed this from experience. When I'm "trying hard" to socialize correctly, it doesn't work. When I'm relaxed, it allows me to listen, understand, and respond more precisely to what others are saying, and that results in a better time for everyone.
Self-confidence: Be comfortable in your own skin. Self-confidence is really that simple. If you try too hard to be self-confident, you'll completely overshoot this easy target right in front of your face. You'll load up the arrow and fire at a small target 300 yards away that says, "be a millionaire, be like James Bond, have a beautiful wife, and snowboard professionally, and then you can have self-confidence."
Those are harder targets to hit and they're impressive if reached, but they're also less effective than simply being comfortable with who you are no matter where you are in various aspects of your life. This is why and how a "nobody" can have plenty of self-confidence while a Hollywood star can struggle with it. It's a prime example of why precision matters so much more than force. The precise way to self-confidence is easier than the forced solutions many people try.
Work: Many of you have heard of the 80/20 (Pareto) principle, which says that 20% of the work brings 80% of the results. How many businesses waste hours on one sour customer when they could use that time to gain three more customers and improve their business? Get into the habit of asking yourself "is this really worth my time?" The more I ask myself this question, the less often I do things like check website traffic and book sales, which are interesting, but not worth checking every hour.
Problems in general: When a problem seems as big as Jupiter, look again. A problem is like a massive robotic enemy. It often looks intimidating and even unbeatable on the outside, but every enemy and problem has a weakness. If you manage to disrupt the robot's power supply, for example, it will fall to you immediately. If instead, you attempt to beat its metal chassis with your fists, you're going to get pummeled. When it comes to problems, precision wins.
Think of a current problem. What's the crux of the issue? What's the "weak spot" that, if addressed, could solve the problem on its own? A single precise attack is more devastating than a thousand powerful misfires.
This is the best way to approach life. Be precise. Force is needed in varying amounts—sometimes you need a light touch, other times you need more power—but precision is always necessary. That's why you start with it.
The more I've experimented with this concept, the more surprised I've been that you often don't need as much power/effort as you think you need. Many times, you just need to be a little bit more precise. A small dietary tweak, a different workout routine, a slight shift in perspective... maybe it's not that precision beats power, maybe precision IS power.
Precisely yours,
Stephen Guise
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