I joined a team in the Sonny Hill league after my senior season of high school basketball. The first day in the gym at Gustine Lake, 25 of the best players in Philadelphia were there. These were the guys whose names were always in the newspaper for their stats and highlights.
Practices were like an All-Star game — plus me.
As in school, I barely got playing time on this team. But I’d have random successes in practice that gave me confidence that I could play with anyone. I took that brief with me to walk on in college.
You might be wondering how, if this team indeed was the best players in Philadelphia, I even got on the roster. Star players don’t “try out” for teams — they get personally invited.
Here’s how: when the team announced open tryouts, I was the only “uninvited / nobody” player who showed up.
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Anyone can be excited, motivated & positive when they’re winning. That’s easy.
What I wanna know: What’s your energy when things are not working, when you’ve suffered defeat, or — from the outside — it looks like you’re losing / will never win?
Being human, we usually go into a shell to figure out what the hell is happening, why, and what caused it. This is a good thing.
Problem is, many of us never come out of it.
The sad truth of life is that most people are so afraid of losing — not because of the actual loss, but because of what they think others will think of them — that they never position themselves to have a chance at winning.
Everything they try is small enough that if they fail, they don’t fall too far, and if they win, they won’t go very high. The game barely notices them when they’re around, and doesn’t remember them when they’re gone.
This has nothing to do with skill, talent or luck. It’s psychology.
Here’s a truth: Life opens itself up to those who knock on the door.
When you’re willing to try things that appear to be out of your range, many times you’ll miss — but the times that it works will more than make up for the losses.
Get over the SELF-judgements that you’re projecting onto others. It’s what you see in yourself that holds you back more than anything else.
Another truth that may help: nobody is thinking about you anyway.