One summer when he was in middle school, our son Eli attended the Bob Lanier-Dick Vitale Basketball Summer Day Camp.
At that time, Bob Lanier played center for the Detroit Pistons (with an amazingly gorgeous hook shot) and Dick Vitale was the Pistons’ coach, with a tremendous line of patter that he subsequently turned into a career as a TV commentator.
Beyond the usual basketball skills one would expect from such a camp, Dick Vitale taught the kids his goal setting system, The 4 D’s of Life – Desire, Dedication Discipline, and Determination.
To accomplish anything in life, first you need a specific desire to inspire you to action.
Then you need the dedication to make your desire a top priority in your life and in your schedule.
You also need the discipline to stick with the daily grind of details, however uninspiring they may seem at the time.
Finally, you need the determination to succeed, no matter what others may say to discourage you, or whatever obstacles may pop up in your way.
With all due respect to Dick Vitale’s excellent system (which Eli remembers to this day), I would add another D to the list, Deserve.
You need to feel that you deserve to succeed in accomplishing your desire, or your subconscious is likely to sabotage some of your best efforts.
The one thing that all five D’s have in common is the importance of doing our inner work; which is at the same time less tangible, yet more important, than our outer work.
Only then can we freely access our desire, dedication, discipline and determination to accomplish the goals that we really do deserve.
Is there yet another D that you think should be added to this list, or are the ones already mentioned sufficient in your view?
