What To Do If You Need Motivation to Work On Your Game

I often get asked some form of the following question:

“Dre, I really want to be great at basketball, but sometimes I don’t feel motivated to work out or go to the court/gym and practice. Any tips? Can you help me with that?”

Answer: No. I cannot help you. If you are not motivated to practice on your skills or go to train or hit the gym, guess what? This game is not for you. Doesn’t mean you have to quit basketball cold turkey — join a local league and play once or twice a week. Drive to the park and play pickup with some random guys. Watch the games on ESPN and tweet about them. But If you need another person to motivate you to go and do the necessary work required to become good at any vocation, you are on the wrong train. get off at the next stop and consult your map.

Basketball players practice their skills. Basketball players go to the gym. Basketball players would rather be doing something basketball-related that most of the non-basketball things that we do with our daily 24 hours. Some people would rather hang at the mall. Some like to lay out by the pool or at the beach. Maybe you prefer standing on the corner. If you would rather do those other things, there is nothing wrong with that.

But you’re not a basketball player.