Blogs

  • Setback, not step back

    Life is full of setbacks and challenges that can make it difficult to move forward. However, it’s important to remember that setbacks are not permanent and should not prevent you from achieving your goals.

    Instead of taking a step back when faced with adversity, use it as an opportunity to learn and grow, and keep moving forward towards success. In the words of Les Brown: “ it’s not over until you win”.

  • Sincere Interest

    I appreciate the small things. Something as simple as you taking a few minutes out of your day to read this blog post means a lot to me. Support doesn’t always have to be financial or physical or informational. It can be something as simple as giving someone some of your time.

    It’s more so emotional support. It’s you providing encouragement, empathy, or even a listening ear to help someone cope with their feeling and emotions. I think everything that we create is just a way for us to express ourselves. You can support someone’s expressions even if you aren’t too fond of their work.

    It’s good to separate talent from effort & expression at times. I don’t have to like your music for me to listen to it. I might just like you as a person, and appreciate that you chose music to express yourself. And because of that, I’ll listen to your music.

    Make it an effort to show your sincere interest in those that you care about (and those you don’t care about). They will appreciate your time.

  • Do you

    Never be afraid to be yourself. Never be afraid to express yourself. Dr. Seuss said “there is no one alive who is youer than you”. That’s true, but no matter who you are, there’s people out there who are very similar to you.

    You’ll attract those similar people by not being afraid to be yourself. They will become your supports.

    Being genuine and true to yourself, without trying to fit into someone else’s mold, is the best way to live a satisfying life. Live life. Do you.

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  • You might not get another chance

    We can all agree that one of Eminem’s biggest rap lines is “You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow”. That line always resonated with me. That’s the approach I take with everything.

    The opportunity that you want will come. You just gotta make sure you are fully prepared when it does come and you gotta make the most of the opportunity. I think if you do that, you’ll be content when it’s all said and done. I often see older athletes who are still pursuing their dreams of playing their sport at a high level. They might not be on a team at the moment, they just need another chance. The thing is; they might not get another chance, and that’s ok. Thats just something they have to accept and move on to the next dream.

    You might not get another chance even when it comes to making mistakes. One mistake can chance your relationships, reputation, and the entire direction on your life.

    Every choice we make in life, every opportunity that we pursue, every action we take, should be made with precision. You might not get a second chance, so make sure you do it right the first time.

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  • Never forget your helpers

    No matter who you are, there’s a lot of people who have helped you throughout your life journey. This can be family, friends, coaches, teachers, mentors, etc. It’s important to never forget the support and help that they have given you, and to always be appreciative, no matter how much time has gone by.

    There has been a lot of people that helped me throughout my life. I am forever grateful. I know that without their help, I wouldn’t be who I am today. The help could be mentorship, financial help, or something as simple as giving me a ride home from practice. I’m grateful for it all.

    I show my gratitude by the way I treat those who have helped me, and also by paying it forward and trying to help others whenever possible.

    Rather it’s a sport or life in general, it’s important to have that “teamwork” mentality, and remember that we are all in this together. So let’s celebrate our success, but also remember those who supported us. Let’s support and uplift those around us. Together we can accomplish great things.

  • Take action

    It’s good to plan things out before you do something, but eventually it will come down to you just taking action. The plan will never be perfect. Problems will come along the way. Some parts of the plan may be unclear.

    You just have to start and adjust along the way. You will achieve a lot more by just starting as opposed to not starting and not taking action. A lot of times we have everything that we need to succeed, but we just do not follow through and take action.

    A key component to taking action is faith. You have to have faith that God will lead you and take care of you once you do start that new endeavor, and you have to have faith in yourself. You have to trust your knowledge and skills and drive.

    There’s only one way to find out what will come from that idea that you have, or career change, or whatever. Take action.

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  • The best ability is accountability

    I know that in football and other sports, coaches often say that the best ability is availability. If you’re injured or can’t show up to practice or games, or suspended, then you will not be able to contribute to the team. That mindset helped me a lot in sports. I made good choices and took care of my body. I knew if I did that I had a good chance of playing in the game.

    I think there’s another ability that is just as important, if not more so: accountability. It’s the ability to take responsibility for your actions and decisions. You have to know everything that you do has consequences, and you have to accept those consequences, good or bad.

    In sports, you have to hold yourself accountable to be able to improve. Being coachable takes a lot of accountability. A coach can’t help you get better if you can’t accept that there was a problem in the first place. Eventually they will move on from trying to help you, and you just won’t play.

    If you break the law and you hold yourself accountable, the judge might lesson the punishment. If you don’t hold yourself accountable, the judge might be more harsh on you.

    Accountability helps build trust and respect, and it’s crucial for personal growth and development. It’s good to hold others accountable as well as ourselves.

    Availability is important, but you can’t be available at all times unless you hold yourself accountable. So when you’re thinking about what it takes to succeed, remember: the best ability is accountability.

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  • Act like it

    I like the quote by Dale Carnegie that says: “If you want to be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic”. This quote might seem simple but, it has a lot of truth to it.

    In football, the coach often observes the energy of the team huddle. He looks at how you enter and break the huddle. In college, on those monotonous days when everyone on the team was tired and had low energy, I would always joke with our Offensive Coordinator and run to the huddle with a lot of energy and enthusiasm yell something like “let’s gooo!” Or “ I got the juice today!”. It was obvious I was joking, but that enthusiasm that I had actually would lift my spirits and energy at practice. It would often rub off on other teammates in the huddle as well.

    If you want to be a certain way, you have to act that way. If you want to be enthusiastic, act like you’re enthusiastic. If you want to be confident, act like you’re confident. It’s about putting on a certain persona and embodying the qualities that you want to have.

    It’s not about being fake, it’s just that when you act a certain way, you feel a certain way. This can help you be more consistent with certain things in life, as well as more persistent.

    Try it for yourself. See if you can be excited to go to work, or go workout, or to do something that you don’t want to do, but know you should. See if you can have the confidence that you know you need to succeed. When you start to act like the person you want to be, you will start to become that person.

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  • Monitor your repetitive thoughts

    A lot of times when I’m not happy, I am thinking about bad things. When I’m happy, I am thinking good thoughts. Sometimes if I have the same repetitive thoughts, I’ll have the same types of dreams frequently.

    It’s important to be aware of your thoughts and to take steps to manage them. One strategy is to practice mindfulness, which involves paying attention.

    Thoughts become things. Think good thoughts. If your thoughts are often negative, try to get to the root of the problem.

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  • Moneyless Riches

    Being in America, it can become easy to form that capitalistic mindset and always think about how you can generate money from your valuable skills, services, and ideas. That’s a good mindset to have at times because you do need to survive, but it’s not always about monetary gains.

    For me, true success is about more than just monetary gains. It’s about using my platform and my gifts to help others, even if that means doing it for free. I feel the best when I help others and expect nothing in return. That’s when I know ( and they know) I am really being genuine.

    I believe we all have something to give back. When you “give back”, most of the time that does not mean getting money out of the situation. It’s just about doing things out of the goodness of your heart. I’m more concerned in the impact that I can have on someone’s life than how much money I can make off that person.

    So if you’re in a position to help others, don’t let the pursuit of money or personal gain hold you back or be the main goal. Take the time to give back to your community and make a difference in someone else’s life. Trust me, the rewards will be worth it.