Life lesson from sports

On DBB, one of my internet friends, BandWagonerPaysTheDues, said this in the comment section about the Australian Men's Olympic basketball team's goal to win a gold medal, 

"Nothing wrong with having a goal
I can understand that it might seem crazy to anyone without the same goal. But remember that 30 for 30 about Pitino and how he had his college team practice lifting each other up to cut the net in celebration of a fantasy NCAA championship that they eventually won in real life? I get chills every time at the thought of it. Your mind has to be all the way in it to win on an elite level. You actually have to practice winning and have it the belief deep down in your heart. This is so much of why basketball has my attention; you can learn so much from these athletes and their mindsets which will apply to your own life. Respect, Team Australia!"

I really liked it.  It inspired me to again think about how sports and real life intertwine.  You have to be truly committed to anything you want to succeed at in life.  And part of that commitment is envisioning what a successful outcome will look like and what it will feel like.  
I think we sometimes block ourselves at an emotional level from achieving success.  I'm actually sort of doing that right now.  We're supposed to be getting a full replacement soon for something we own because it's under warranty and is falling apart.  This thing has lots of financial value.  Because of that, I can't quite seem to let myself believe we're actually going to get a new one, free of charge.  Intellectually, I'm excited, but emotionally, I'm completely blocked from it.  No emotion at all.  Fortunately, my emotional state has nothing to do with whether we get it or not.  If it did, I assure you that I would tighten up at the critical moment and we wouldn't win.  Usually I handle these things much better than this, but that's not the point.  The point is that being emotionally connected to a successful outcome can be the determining factor in success.  

So if you've got something important to achieve, take it from BandWagonerPaysTheDues and basketball and let yourself feel what success will be like, even before you start.