Diversify your skills so that you will always be needed.
In football I always aimed to be a “complete running back”. This means I didn’t want to be good at just running the ball. I wanted to be a good catcher, run good routes, a good pass blocker, have good ball security… I wanted to run with both speed and power. I wanted to have good vision and I wanted to be smart. This helped me be a more valuable running back, which in return helped me win the starting running back job time after time.
If a running back cannot catch the ball or pass block, they will be limited to just playing on first and second down. If you aren’t that fast, you might be limited to just short yardage plays. If you have bad vision or fumble the ball a lot, you might not play at all.
When I made it to the NFL I knew that if I wanted to see the field I would have to diversify my skills even more. I had to be able to add value to the team by also playing on Special Teams. This helped me be needed more, which in return helped me make NFL rosters. At practice, I would help wherever they needed me. I might be on scout defense one period, then scout offense the next. It did not matter to me what I was doing as long as I was contributing to the team in some type of way. I always tried to find ways to diversify my skills. In the NFL, if a team feels as if you are not valuable or not contributing to the team enough, they’ll quickly get rid of you. I began to build this sense of urgency that I should always be doing something or adding to my skillset in some type of way. This now is how I approach everything in life, and how we all should.
You have to do things to separate yourself from the competition. Your resume might be very similar to another job candidate’s, but if you have more valuable skills on your resume such as coding or knowing another language, that can help you win that job. Even when you get the job, you still can gain more skills to grow within the company or go somewhere that is a higher position.
We can work on personal skills also, such as communication, time management, problem-solving, etc. Really, it’s not just about sports or work. The more skills you have in life in general, the more valuable you are. This can make life a lot easier. Might even make you happier.
So with that being said, I encourage you to make it an effort to learn a new skill this year. The future you will thank you.
FLY, BLACK BOY 