Back to Basics

I am finding that it is the fundamentals of good health that will let us live the life-style we want. Too many health advisors major in minor issues. Before you focus on trace minerals, balance the major minerals. Before you focus on supplements, deal with the meals, the food. One of my fave analogies for demonstrating this to people is basketball. Just a while back, I had to chance to watch Tony Robbins interview John Wooden, one of the most successful basketball coaches known for his work with the LA Lakers. He spent ten years training the club and during these ten years the club won the championship nine times.

As I was listening to this interview, I was struck by the emphasis Wooden put on the basics of the game. Tom Robbins asked him at a point: What exactly do you do as a coach? Wooden’s answer was very simple; he trained his players in the fundamentals of the game. A significant proportion of the training for the team was doing simple drills such as lay-ups and free throws. This makes sense if you consider the follow eventuality: The clock is running down. There is only a minute left in the game and your team is behind by a single point. In the last five seconds of the game there’s a foul committed by the away team.

Now you must sink two free throws to win the game. The group is cheering you on in anticipation. Making the free throw, you have no time to consider anything. You simply must let your body do what it already can do. But if you are not grounded in your basic coaching or if your surface mind interferes, you won’t be in a position to make the shot. Its the same in our everyday lives, which get busier each year. Without the basic components of nutrition, we will never be able to build the life we like.