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

Self Confidence

Often times when people first start going to the gym they are going for a reason. They either feel as though they are over weight or they want to gain weight or a number of other issues. But as you start to work on yourself and start to look better you will start to notice your confidence start to rise. When you look in the mirror you gain confidence and feel good about yourself. But in today’s society self confidence is often looked at as cocky or arrogant. But I am here to tell you this

Have the most confidence in yourself no matter what people may say. As I start to level up and be more assertive with my time people often confuse me to be arrogant or being cocky. But this is something that comes with the territory, when you are confident in yourself and become more aware of everything around you, you will find yourself distancing yourself from other people. You will find yourself cutting ties with people that are negative and start to put yourself first than them. And trust me they will have an issue with that but at the end of the day you have to do what makes you happy.

Once you stop worrying about what other people’s opinions and what they may think of you, you will start living your life to the fullest and become much happier. Getting to the gym and working out is one thing but once you have that slimmer tone or added muscle that you always wanted you have the right to have confidence in yourself and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.

Coach Q

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?