What Forever Be ready means

It’s November 21st When I first got the idea about forever be ready I was honestly in a state of depression. My mind wasn’t completely there because basketball was not going for me the way I wanted it to be. It was my junior year and I had sat the first 6 games of the season and then went to only playing 10 minutes in a game and that’s when I thought I was done with basketball. Physically I had trained all year to kill my opponents and now I wasn’t getting the opportunity too showcase my talent. But it wasn’t long until the phrase forever be ready became a lifestyle for me.

I was angry at the world so my whole mindset was fuck everybody. My coaches could tell something was wrong with me by the way I practiced. I’d literally be searching the whole practice in my teammates eyes and see who feared me every time I touched the ball and I would attack them specifically. I would make them guard me and I’d constantly bust their ass for however long the drill was. It was a moment of releasing all of my inner frustrations and they were getting hell all practice. But constantly in the back of my mind I knew I had to be ready the next time an opportunity presented itself in game. So everyday I would wake up at 5am and shoot with my roommate for 2 hours before class. A lot of people don’t know this till this day but their would be times that I’d go from the gym straight to class and go back to the gym, go to scheduled practice and go to the gym again and shoot at night.

On the 28th of November I end up having a bad shooting night go 3-9 and only have 9 points. Frustrated with myself I knew I could have played better. I remember going to my apartment and talking with my teammate and telling him maybe I just lost it. My head was fucked up, all I wanted to do was show everybody that doubted me that I could do everything they said I couldn’t do. But right then I was proving them right. Never forget asking God why this had to happen to me after all the work I had put in. I cried and prayed the night out of frustration because I needed an answer. I couldn’t just keep putting this work in and not having anything change. But God knew patience is something that I always have struggled with. And when you stop worrying and just trust in his plan you’ll drastically see things change.

On the week of December 5th the day that changed my life I never seen it coming. My senior point guard got suspended for this game so it was my time to relish the opprotunity and step up. No longer was I playing out of frustration or anger but I was playing with pure love for the game. God had something in store for me but little did I know it would be on this day. Me and my teammate are in the gym shooting 3 hours before the game. We actually get to the arena an hour before the girls warm up so I decide to start my pre game routine in my street clothes which was shooting 3’s from deep spots on the floor. It was like I couldn’t miss. But I’ve hard warm ups like this before so I don’t think too much of it. I have Lloyd banks-Transition on repeat in my headphones. I proceed to the locker room and change and now I’m in a zone where my mind is simply laser focused. After my first shot I knew it was going to be a long game for whoever was in front of me. I took that same mentality of killing during practice and now it manifested to the game. Ended up having 35 points marking a career high for myself.

From having to at one point wanting to quit and then turning around having 35 points 2 weeks later is why I stand behind the phrase Forever be ready so heavily. No matter what you are going through in life you have to be ready for that opportunity and be ready to capitalize when your number is called. I could have folded and said you know what forget it it’s not worth it, but you have to see the vision to the end.

I hope this piece has inspired you all and you know realize the meaning behind why I made these T-shirts. If you would like to purchase one I will leave the link below.

https://snaptee.co/t/tz0ie

Finding motivation

A lot of people struggle with the ability to find motivation when accomplishing their dreams and goals. People say that they want to go to the gym everyday but when that alarm clock goes off and your body is telling you stay in bed people often give in. When they have to be at the gym by 7 they think 7:30 won’t hurt then that turns into 7:45 then they think maybe I’ll just go later in the day and never make it to the gym. Trust me I know this happens because this is something that I use to struggle with myself until I found something that motivated me. Here’s a little story:

On January 5th I drove to the basket and landed on my hand. I automatically assume the worse because it was my shooting hand but I continue to play through it because it was late in the game but I knew something wasn’t right and I went to the trainer right after. I told him what happened and he said it was probably a minor sprain and with ice and some treatment it will get better. The following week I’d say it gets worse to a point where it’s excruciating pain just to shoot a basketball. Nobody really knows what I’m going through and to make the long story short I play the rest of the season dealing with this injury. Come to find out a couple days ago I have a ligament torn in my wrist and now they are talking about possibly getting surgery done once I graduate. But during this process I had to find something to keep me going. Basketball is my life I been playing since I was 3 years old. If something it going on in my life and I want to get away from it I go lose myself in the gym and go shoot. I love the game. But imagine not being able to do something you love to do because every time you do it it literally hurts. I even had a dream about this a couple nights ago and tears literally started pouring down my face in my sleep and when I woke up I knew it was still a reality. I miss it but this is what I was dealing with and I had to find something to motivate me to get through it. I would always have talks with my parents back home and they would always tell me how proud they were of how far I’ve come even though my performance wasn’t like it was last year they knew what I was capable of. But little did they know I physically couldn’t do it and that is what hurt me mentally the most. To be completely honest with you all from Jan 5th to the end of the season mentally was the worst time of my life. But talking to my parents and seeing back home that I had people that counted on me kept me waking up at 5AM and training. I couldn’t shoot because the pain was too much but I kept working on things in my room to keep my mind and body strong and in tune with myself.

I say all this to say, if you ever find yourself asking how can I keep the momentum going to accomplish my goals or tasks, whether it’s going to the gym everyday or eating healthy or going to work when you don’t feel like it, find something that will motivate you. Once you find that motivation I promise everything will be so much easier for you. Those days when you just don’t want to get up for work, when you think about your motivation your body will switch into another gear and you will find yourself never contemplating those thoughts again.

I want you to take some time out of your day today and think about it now and write it down so it’s a daily reminder to yourself, what motivates you?

Never let people put limitations on you

When I was growing up my parents instilled in me that I could be whatever I put my mind to doing. And as we grow older we tend to move away from this belief and live under other peoples expectations of us. Regardless of what field we go into there is always somebody saying what you can do and what you can’t do and we tend to follow this. Playing basketball, this is something that I have dealt with my whole life. Having a natural skinny build people always told me that I was too skinny to play at the next level. Something that has always stuck with me was when I tried out for my middle school team and didn’t make it. I went home and cried and told my parents I never wanted to see a basketball again. My father being the person that he was always kept me motivated and he would go outside and rebound for me for hours. And every shot that I made he would build my confidence and tell me nobody could stop me. Of course having him in my corner was a major impact in my life but also the fact that he would believe in me is something that always propelled me.

Fast forward to my second year playing basketball at this junior college. I wasn’t getting the playing time I wanted so I went to the coach and asked him why am I not playing. This is what he said ” I think you have reached your potential, everybody has a cap that they top off at and I think you are there. I can’t see you getting any better or better yet playing at a high level”. Little did he know he made me into a beast. The following year I transferred and I saw we had him on our schedule. This picture was captured during the game and till this day I couldn’t tell you what emotion I was feeling

I Ended up having 29 points and showed everybody in that gymnasium that there are not such things as limitations. The moral of this post is to tell you that don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. If you want to do something make up in your mind that nobody is going to get in the way of my goal and press your way through it. When someone tries to put a limitation on you, use that as fuel to prove them wrong. The only person that can stop you is you. BE GREAT!

Coach Q

Never Settle

This time last year I didn’t know what settling was.

I wanted to talk about something today that has been on my mind for the past few months and that is never being content with settling.Over the past few months I found myself in a rut mentally where I was just being content with being average. I didn’t make the deans list last semester because I settled, I found myself not even wanting to go to the gym and workout after practice because I was settling. Coming off a year last year when I was killing my competition nobody could stop me. You could see in the picture above if you were to ask me how I felt it was a feeling I can’t even explain. The mind is powerful weapon and it showed. I was having a career year, and that summer I was so excited because of my accomplishments that I settled… It was the biggest mistake of my life.

My body wasn’t completely in shape like it normally was because I was missing workouts. I would stay up all night knowing I had to workout in the morning and sleep in till 12 thinking it was enough. When I knew someone who was hungry like myself last summer would have been on his third workout by the time I woke up but I didn’t care because I thought I’d be fine. This thinking caused me to have numerous injuries during the season this year which then affected my performance. I’ll never forget last year there was never a day that went by that I did not go to the gym and shoot jump shots every morning and night (Except if there was a snowstorm). Me and my roommate would go to the gym at 5 am and go to practice then come back to the gym after practice and shoot more. Which went to show why I had played the best basketball of my life. I’ve never been the one to make an excuse. If it is my fault this I will own up to it and settling is something that has been one the biggest obstacles in my life. I stopped working out at 5 AM because I got complacent with myself and thought I don’t need to work as hard anymore because of all the previous work that I put in. But I was wrong and it showed.

The moral of this post is to never settle for anything. Whether it’s a relationship, if your not happy and it’s toxic leave. If it’s work and your killing yourself everyday and tired of working for someone and want to go back to school or get a better job do it. Put the things that are most important to you first and if you aren’t achieving those things or you don’t find yourself being happy then make adjustments and get it done. Stop living up to other people’s expectations of you and make sure the only person your pleasing is the person you look at in the mirror.

Stop Settling!