The Things We Can Control
Has this year gotten off to a rough start? In some ways it certainly has. Currently in a “losing” situation that doesn’t seem like it’ll change at all, and since I’ve exhausted all of my options at this point, it has been feeling pretty rough. All I can do is continue to just play hard and take things as they come, day by day. Basketball is such a huge part of my life that it consumes me at times. And as a vital piece to this team, and with our struggles, it makes it hard to concentrate on anything else. I am constantly racking my brain to figure out what all I can do on my end to make us better, to make myself better, to get us on the same page… but when I tell you that I have truly done everything in my power, there’s NO exaggeration. And now things have reached a point where I just have to focus on each day when it comes to things on the court. Staying engaged mentally can be a task, but I know how to remain professional throughout the “storm” and to continue to do my best physically always.
So, if I were to just dwell on the things happening on the court then I don’t think I would have anything positive to talk about or report. However, some other things have gone according to plan for the most part. Released an awesome podcast episode with Chinny Nwagbo on the Best Ever Created podcast. Something I am very proud of! And although we had originally recorded it a little bit ago, I was finally able to edit it to my liking and once it all came together it was great. We talked about our days playing against each other in Poland, and how we go about getting to know other Americans we might run into as opponents. There was also talk about the challenges we put ourselves through in order to reach our highest potential and to test our limits. But with all those things discussed, the best part of our conversation for me, was us talking about our goals, and what it means to us as individuals to set these goals and put our plans into action. It was such a blessing to engage in that conversation with her, and I’m just glad It was recorded as a podcast. I think anyone who listens to it can certainly take some great things from it, so please take a listen.
Another thing I have been focusing on, but have been a little bit behind in, is my blog. Haven’t posted as much as I wanted to originally, but that wasn’t for lack of trying. I’ve got a couple of drafts pending, so they will be coming out back to back more than likely. Especially since I’m still trying to hit all of my goals for the month of January, and making sure I hit my personal quota for blog posts is 1 of those goals.
I’ve got plenty of things to talk about and update you on as I go into overdrive to finish this month out as strong as possible. At the moment I’m on our charter bus heading across Turkey for an away game, and If I didn’t get motion sickness I wonder how much work could I get done? I try and get a lot of reading and writing done while on the road for a game, but it’s definitely a difficult task for me. Usually I can go about 20 minutes of reading a book or being on my laptop before I need a break cause I’ve gotten a headache or my stomach starts acting up. I wish this wasn’t the case because there’s just so much I want to do within this time frame.
On another note, I’ve been putting a lot of time into building up Best Ever Created as an entire brand or even enterprise so to speak. This year I’m trying a new approach and really trying to put myself out there. I’ve even got a little bit of team behind me now so that helps. It’s still a weird concept to me to push and promote myself essentially. It’s a scary thing to basically stand up in front of people and say, “This is me, this is what I represent, and this is my brand.” But it’s been rewarding overall. Even though things are in the beginning stages I have been getting some great feedback all around. From the podcast, to the social media presence, merch, and even the things that I post like my blogs. It’s nice to be able to express myself in several different ways, to share stories about my journey and the journeys of others, and then to have people appreciate the work I’ve been putting in. I’m thankful for that. It keeps me going through some rough times over here.
With everything going on for me this season, for the things that I can’t control on the court, I consider myself going ape $hit towards everything else. It keeps me going on my toughest days. Gives me something to look forward to because I really do enjoy knocking things off my list as the days, weeks, and months go by. Hoping that the end result ultimately catapults me in the right direction and ahead of the game when the time comes!
“If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”