Trust and Respect the Process
If you are a UAAP basketball observer, you must have watched and read about the recent championship bagged by the Ateneo Blue Eagles under the superb coaching of Tab Baldwin, considered the most victorious coach in the history of New Zealand NBL before he came to the Philippines to coach the Philippine Basketball team in 2014.
What is admirable and worth emulating in Baldwin’s style is the respect for the process. He teaches his players to apply certain principles instead of specific “plays.” I heard that he does not like players who have star complex because he focuses on building the team. He thinks that the word “ego” is an acronym for:
E – Easing
G – God
O – Out
There’s also a story that shows how he wants his players to respect the process. During one game against UST, ADMU player Will Navarro, instead of passing the ball to Thirdy Ravena who was open at that time, opted to make a fancy shot. He successfully did it and even got fouled, making it a potentially 3-point shot. Instead of letting it pass or even commending him for that risky yet successful move, Coach Tab took him aside and reprimanded him for violating their process, their agreed upon system of playing the game.
It is very important for all of us to emulate this. Sometimes we allow wrong moves as long as we like the outcome. Sometimes we allow people to bend rules, lie, just because we get the result we wanted and just say, “Okay lang ‘yon. Nanalo naman e. Yon din naman ang kinalabasan. The end justifies the means.” But if we allow this unchecked, we cultivate a culture of “chamba,” not to mention lawlessness.
Know what you can and cannot control
The truth is we cannot control the outcome. Results are affected by so many factors, some are external and beyond the realm of any preparation. To be obsessively focused on results means you have to worry about these external factors, or at least hope that they will all be in your favor. I think doing this is a waste of time and energy.
What we can control is the process. If we have established a certain system of doing things that is efficient, effective and fair, we stick with it the way we stick to our core principles. And this is the reason why we have to guard that process. Respect the process. Trust in it. And be patient.
This reminds me of peso cost averaging. Most of us are too impatient to trust this tried and tested process in equity investing. We want our stock investing to be sexy so we can brag about our wins. The thing is, there are many external factors going on out there. The thing is, the regular Juan is better off just investing in equity index funds than try to be the next Warren Buffett. So again, remember “Time in the market is more important than timing the market” so start now, if you haven’t yet. Just enroll your payroll account in an automated peso cost averaging investment in equity index fund that will continue with the process regardless of market movements, regardless of political climate. Respect the process. Trust in it. And be patient.
Myopia gets in the way of the process
The other week I wrote about myopia and FQ. (click link) We have a hard time delaying gratification because we cannot see our future old self clearly, and end up succumbing to pleasures of our present self – hello YOLO and FOMO. It’s the same way in basketball, relationships, career, health, wealth and the other important things in life.
The lack of immediate feedback gets in the way when we try to carry out our noblest intentions. Just because we cannot see the positive results right away, we abandon the process. I hear people complain, “My investment in the stock market has not been earning at all and I’ve left it there for two years.” And so they fall for scams that promise quick and high returns kuno. Yes, they are enticed by the initial checks they receive for the high returns of their investment, never mind if they can’t quite understand how such returns are possible. They like the “immediate feedback” in the form of those early checks. Later on those checks will be unfunded. Later on, no more interest. Later on, goodbye principal!
Irrelevant subjects in school?
I also hear a lot of complaints about seemingly irrelevant subjects taught in school, “Why do I have to wrack my brains studying Calculus? I won’t use this in my job!” Heck, the candidate who promised to remove Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus during the campaign period won! He believes that these are useless subjects (click link) and that we Filipinos are really poor in Math (click link) unlike the Chinese who are good at it.
Recently, Filipino, Panitikan and Constitution subjects were removed from the core curriculum. This means that these subjects are no longer required in our colleges and universities. Again, I suspect that the reason is that they do not find these subjects “useful” because they cannot directly and immediately relate these subjects to employment.
We study these subjects because we need to exercise our brains. We need all these Math problems so we can train ourselves to analyze and figure out solutions to problems we will encounter in the real world. We need art, literature, (Panitikan for that matter) to stretch our creativity, understand our roots, and deepen our humanity.
Look at the basketball champions. Do you think all they do is shoot, dribble, rebound, and steal during their training? No, they do other things - they lift weights, they run, they build their stamina, endurance, etc. These are their conditioning exercises that are essential in playing a good game.
Oh, and if I may add, we definitely need the Constitution subjects back in a country where any Tom, Dick and Harry can run (and unfortunately, win) elections. I suspect majority of our lawmakers don’t even know the Preamble in our Constitution. 
Let’s reflect on our own process
So, let’s think about our own life. What do we want to achieve? What is the long-term process that we should design for our everyday life to achieve our goals? We cannot go on aspiring for great career, health, wealth, relationships if we don’t invest in the long-term process. We cannot achieve meaningful successes if we always count on “chambas.”
Let’s respect and trust the process, then the desired outcome will follow in due time.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Interested to meet up with me? I’m inviting you to kick-off your 2019 by starting the year right! Join me on January 12, 2019 (Saturday) at the Phil. Stock Exchange, Tektite Building in Ortigas and learn how to make 2019 your best year ever! If you’re interested to reserve a slot, please email me directly at FQMomm@gmail.com, cc gem.fqmom@gmail.com. Use the subject Jan 12, 2019 Meet Up with FQ Mom. You may bring up to 4 companions (family, friends, or even foes if you want to.
) - Thanks to those who already bought the FQ Book, especially to those who took the time out to send me their feedback. Your feedback is food for my soul. To those who have not gotten their copy yet, here’s a short preview of FQ: The nth Intelligence
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- Want to know where your FQ stands? Take the FQ Test Challenge now! Click link. http://rebrand.ly/FQTest
Rose Fres Fausto is a speaker and author of bestselling books Raising Pinoy Boys and The Retelling of The Richest Man in Babylon (English and Filipino versions). Click this link to read samples – Books of FQ Mom. She is a Behavioral Economist, Certified Gallup Strengths Coach and the grand prize winner of the first Sinag Financial Literacy Digital Journalism Awards. Follow her on Facebook & YouTube as FQ Mom, and Twitter & Instagram as theFQMom. Her latest book is FQ: The nth Intelligence.
ATTRIBUTIONS: Photos from Rappler, ABS-CBN Sports, Mico Ongkeko from The Guidon, https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/health-and-family/2017/12/25/1771714/tab-baldwin-not-just-coach-teacher-players, stepupacademics.com, iStockPhoto, store.steampowered.com/app/749990/Trigonometry/, ShutterStock, media.beliefnet.com, blogarama.com, dikaraniwangfilipino.wordpress.com, officialnotes.blogspot.com, talesofdisquiet.tumblr.com, VectorStock, TradeIT modified and used to help deliver the message of the article.
