Imagination.

Small dreams expose an acute lack of imagination, and imagination is the only advantage we have in life. Every NBA player had the same 3, 2, 1, buzzer-beater-game-seven-three-point-shot-for-the-championship dream that millions of other talented basketball players around the world had. The difference between the countless millions and the 529 players in the NBA? The overwhelming majority of those talented athletes lost the dream and stopped playing ball. Some quit the dream for good reasons, some reached a plateau and the effort to continue was greater than the force of the dream, others shifted priorities, and most lost the dream in the face of overwhelming negativity. The single greatest impediment to success is not the quality of the field or the condition of the ball, it's in how we employ our imagination to overcome flaws and inevitable daily setbacks. A good coach expends a tremendous amount of effort convincing young athletes they have the skill and strength to do something hard, to do something that they may be fearful of, something complex and new. And it only takes a single negative remark to remove that confidence. Nobody knows what any of us are capable of, thats the beauty of life - its wide open!