I was watching a documentary on University of Alabama football the other night when I was struck by a quote.
Former NBA star Kobe Bryant, the Lost Angeles Lakers great, was giving the defending national champion Alabama team a preseason pep talk. At one point, Bryant told the players: “What I’ve always found helpful, particularly when the season starts, is to edit your life.”
The phrase “edit your life” struck me. At age 60, I’ve done a lot of editing and a lot of living, but I’ve never tried to edit my life.
The essence of editing is to make a piece of writing more clear. And I think that is what Bryant was getting at. A perfectionist and workaholic, he was urging the players to edit distractions out of their lives – at least during the football season. Only then would they see their goals more clearly.
In my mind, the “life edit” metaphor is fascinating and suggests a parenting strategy that I am eager to share.