Last night I watched a documentary called ‘Finding Big Country’. In the film, Vancouver-based filmmaker and Grizzlies superfan Kat Jayme makes it her mission to track down the Vancouver sports legend Bryant ‘Big Country’ Reeves, 17 years after he leaves town.

Kathleen Jayme grew up idolizing and watching the Vancouver Grizzlies. Her favourite player was the clubs first ever selection, Bryant “Big Country” Reeves. In her quest to find him, she interviews friends, coaches, and teammates until finally – she finds and interviews Bryant himself – who is now a cattle farmer on his ranch in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma.

Once they meet, they bond with amazing speed. He still loves the game and has a court in his home gym. He’s kept a ton of memorabilia as well in what would best be described as his man-cave.

The documentary is worth a watch for many reasons but two things stood out for me:

One was an interview with one of the friends Steve Woodruff where he shared that regardless of the weather he would see Bryant on afternoons after school, dribbling that basketball. So he asked him “Bryant, what’s your goal?”

I’m gonna play in the NBA.

BRYANT REEVES

Steve notes that Bryant didn’t say “I want to play in the NBA”, he said “I’m going to play in the NBA.”

The other was after Bryant and Kat completed a one on one game he was asking her a couple questions about her high school basketball experience and she shared that she had a choice to make: should she continue with the game or should she pursue her film career. What he said next was the second thing that stood out for me.

Failing is tough, but if you don’t fail at something you can’t succeed at it either. Somebody is always going to criticize what you do, whether it’s on the court, whether it’s in every day life…I mean…somebody is always gonna second guess you. You know…you gotta just tune that crap out and go on with your stuff.

BRYANT REEVES

Now Bryant is talking about other people second-guessing us but many times we second guess ourselves.

In an article about how not to second guess ourselves, Vivian Manning-Schaffel shares – “I can’t help but wonder if our digitally-driven culture — where we’re constantly faced with endless options of people to meet, or things to buy, think or do every second of every day — has somehow also facilitated second-guessing as sort of a side-effect. With so much of everything to choose from in every aspect of our lives, it’s hard not to wonder if a better option might be right around the corner.”

There are two major reasons why we second guess ourselves:

We feel that there are only two available choices – a right one and a wrong one. We feel that a perfect answer exists out there so we spend a lot of time procrastinating while we contemplate what to do.

In the same article, Sanam Hafeez, a neuropsychologist and faculty member at Columbia University, says, “Second-guessing oneself is a form of insecurity, anxiety and lack of self-confidence about whether you have made the right decision or not,” says Hafeez, adding that the tendency to second-guess is somewhat pervasive for people who do it.”

The meaning of the word “decide” comes from the Latin word, decidere, which is a combination of two words: de = ‘OFF’ + caedere = ‘CUT’

When we decide, we cut off all other options.

When it comes to our businesses we need to commit to a course of action, long enough to start getting results, as in failing and tweaking until we start gaining some traction. Jumping from one thing to another is a recipe for disaster. Believe in yourself and your ability to choose what’s best for you and then GO! Not turning back – GO!

If you need help right now, in some part of your business or career make a decision to reach out today. Here’s how: