Always remember who you are

The full story 🏀

I watched a video of Paul Pierce’s induction speech into the hall of fame and he thanked a total of nine teams. He was genuine in his appreciation for how the teams impacted his career. The thing is, he never played for any of these teams. These were the teams that passed on him. In his own words, it gave him a fire to prove them wrong. I believe things really change when we get angry. Angry not hypothetically, but really pissed. There are those who would not believe in you, no matter how you feel about them, you need them.

The spectator/rival 🦴

Jay Williams talks about working out with Kobe and putting in his best best workout performance to impress the black mamba. After working out together for a couple of hours, he took a break because it was game day. Kobe went on for another couple of hours and dropped over forty points in a the game right after that. When Jay Williams asked Kobe why he worked so hard, Kobe’s response was “It was because I saw you come in. I wanted to let you know that I will outwork you no matter how hard you work. The people who watch what you are doing, even when they are saying nothing are important for your success.

The beloved critics 👌🏿

One of the biggest hinderance to our personal productivity is our attempt to evade criticism and adversity. I spoke to a brother of mine the other day who describes himself as a dove and describes me as a lion in reference to the way we approach issues. I reminded him that adversity compliments dialogue instead of prohibiting it. Once we overcome the fear of being criticized, we seize our ability to be ourselves. These are words that even when heard a 99 times would still have space for the hundredth. In our evasion of criticism, we always hope that if we seek perfection, our problems will disappear. I prioritize progress over perfection, and while I am at it I never forget who I am.