How We Talk Sports / High School Plans / Shohei Ohtani

Welcome this week's edition of the What Matters Most newsletter from The Center For Reflective Intelligence. Each Friday we will share one thing to think, talk and be about. If you want more space to think, talk and be about what matters most, please subscribe below.

One Thing To Think About

With the French Open & NBA Finals happening now, it's a great time to watch sports. I've been watching international feeds (TSN from Canada, Sky Sports from the UK, and STAN TV from Australia) and there's a stark difference in American broadcasters' focus.

Americans broadcasters discuss what should happen next, what players should do, or what coaches shouldn't do, or what will happen if they don't. They spend most of their time talking about future predictions. International broadcasters focus more on what happened or what is happening.

They make observations on what they see instead of trying to predict the future. No matter how hard we try (and judging by the rise of gambling and prediction markets, we are trying a lot) we cannot predict the future. I find sports more enjoyable when we focus on what is or has happened, not what we think will happen.

One Thing To Talk About

Last week I was in Roanoake, Virginia working with Student Service professionals from all 23 Virginia Community Colleges. To create space to think, talk and be about what matters most I opened one of my sessions with this:

What did you do right after you finished high school? What did you want (or not want to do)?

I spent the summer working at a Shoney's Restaurant knockoff restaurant in Berlin, Vermont before heading off to Ithaca College. What I wanted to do was drive cross-country with my homies.

One Thing To Be About

We find our way to success when we work towards the goals we set for ourselves. To do that we have to know what we want to do in the world as well as why we want to do it. Shohei Ohtani is the world's best baseball player and he clearly knows what he wants. Check out this amazing goal chart he made when was 15 years old. Using the Harada Method, he not only articulated his goals, but also identified what he needs to focus on to make them a reality.

Have something we should be thinking, talking or being about? Let us know by replying to this email or adding a comment below.

With purpose,

Tim