I’ve been in a story telling mood lately, so here’s another one for you.
Did you know I used to play professional basketball (semi-pro hoops in the ABA for 5 years)?
That may sound impressive, but did you also know I almost didn’t play organized hoops after high school??
It was the summer of the year 2000.
I had just graduated high school, and I was looking forward to going to college.
I started my career at Cal Poly Pomona as a computer science major.
I decided I would try out for the basketball team there, even though I did no research on the team.
That means, no calls to the coaching staff to let the know who I was.
No meeting the players
Not even training to tryout for the team!
Ya see, during the summer going into my freshman year, I worked a job doing construction to make some spending money. (dont ask me why, I didnt have a plan)
Deep down, I didn’t know what I wanted to do after high school…
So when it was time for basketball tryouts, it’s no surprise that I did not make the team at Cal Poly Pomona.
They also had a policy that they didn’t want anyone they did not personally recruit, but I wasn’t in any position to have them change their mind!
Anyway, the next year, I started to train and I decided I would try again…but I ended up missing tryouts because I was planning to transfer schools.
My 3rd year (technically my 2nd academically) I did things different.
I made myself known to the players.
I practiced a lot.
I even got help from the assistant coaches.
So, when it came time for tryouts again…I felt ready.
Rumor has it, the coaches was only considering me and one other player to join the team.
He played the position they were looking for, so I did not make the team.
So that’s the 3rd year of not making the team.
To say I was heartbroken was an understatement!
I was also so angry!
I had every excuse you could think of.
I tried to act as if it was someone else’s fault!
But I had to realize, the only one to blame was myself.
I didn’t give any effort year 1.
Year 2, I wasn’t decisive on what I would do.
Year 3, I didn’t do enough to make the team.
I THOUGHT I was working hard, but I wasn’t.
I never committed to success!
And I learned that if I was going to be mad, it had to be at myself for not giving my all.
There was more I could have done.
More reps, more weight training, more endurance, more skill work!
Things are different now tho.
I left Cal Poly Pomona after that and went to a different school where I ended up being their starting center.
I was able to use the work I started at Cal Poly Pomona and improve upon that to actually achieve success.
That success work is the basis of all my success work that I teach now
So, I will tell you the same thing I told myself.
Trying isn’t enough, you must commit to success!
And don’t forget, every master was once a disaster.