“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games, 26 times,
I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over
and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed” Michael Jordan
Think for a second on what you just read. The greatest basketball player in history failed all the time. But he didn’t stop or give up. He failed forward and that is what drove him to greatness. If Michael can do it, then you better believe you can do it and maybe even do it better than him.
When you first start out everything is clicking and your game is running at 100%. Everything you touch seems to turn to gold. That’s because of the law of the beginner. Fortune wants you in the game. So she lures you in with a few easy wins and a taste of the good life. Then one day that shit comes to an abrupt and complete stop. Money dries up and the females that were on your tip aren’t checking for you anymore.
It’s easy to fall off and let depression fuck your mind up. Remember this is just temporary. All winners lose a few. That is life. The real tough Kats understand this and prepare for it. Bad shit doesn’t last forever.
When everything is going wrong in our lives it is easy to fall into the mindset that this is the life that you are always going to have to lead. The job you want isn’t going to give you the opportunity to get an interview. Only if you could get past the application process you can show that you will bring much needed value to the company. The boss always seems to overlook you for a promotion. They tell you things like wait your turn or be patient. Your time will come and you try but can’t see the light that is at the end of the tunnel. The thing is, you don’t know why fate has decided it isn’t your time to get that promotion. How could you know that, that position is next on the chopping block? Maybe the boss that you think is a jerk is really looking out for you. You need to stay down and keep doing the best work you can do. It doesn’t matter if people keep coming and going. You focus on your duties and say the hell with whatever else is going on at the office. We need get the whole story on a situation. My mother used to say “The truth comes in three forms: the truth as you know it, the truth as they know it and the truth that actually has taken place.”
When I was in the 9th grade I was just starting a new high school and didn’t have any friends. One day in gym the head coach of the boys’ basketball program came to me and said “Are you a hooper?” I replied “yes” and he told me to come and try out for the team in the winter. To be honest I didn’t play much basketball up until that point. At least not in a serious way. My family were baseball players and my father said he wasn’t wasting his time teaching me how to play a game that I shouldn’t be playing. He wanted me to play baseball. “That’s your sport son.” So I said I would teach myself how to play. For the next couple of months I would practice every chance I got. Many times I would be in trouble for coming home after dark covered in sweat. My dad would just shake his head and look the other way. The time finally came for try outs and I was cut in the first round. I was devastated and heartbroken. I had thoughts of giving my life over to computer crime or something else that was ridiculous. That night I cried like a little baby in my room. I stayed in my room because I didn’t want to hear my father saying I told you so.
Once I got back to school, I had English class with most of the players that made the freshmen team. They said that I did a good job for only having a couple of months of practice. They had been playing with each other since they could walk and talk. It was no wonder they made the team and the team only had so many spots. This actually helped me a lot. I made up my mind that I would keep on practicing and getting better. Soon I would be so good that I would make the summer league team a few months later, and I did. I spent countless hours alone after school shooting that ball at the hoop. I would run around the track for hours until my sides hurt and I would actually puck. I went on to play varsity in my senior year. I didn’t let the heartache of being cut the first time I ever tried out for the team stop me from accomplishing my goal. I stayed down until I came up. I was able to use the same lesson many other times in my life.
It is a rare thing for someone to succeed the first time they try something great. There is always the risk of them continuously losing in a big way, but the only way you can really lose is, if you never try to win in the first place. You have to go out there and pour every ounce of effort into the things you are trying to make happen in your life. Things are going to suck before they get better. This is just life weeding out the people that aren’t really worthy of the victory of the gods. You have to be strong and prove to good fortune that you are the one that they have been waiting for. The one that has what it takes.
Peeping Game Tip #8
It is said that it takes about ten years of solid practice to become world class at most things. So keep that in mind when you are feeling like you are doing at this work and not seeing any progress. It’s is on its way.