A common question I get is, what advice would you give to younger athletes. And I started thinking what’s the one thing I wish I knew earlier.
What has helped to revolutionize my thinking the most?
What has helped me see the most growth?
So here is a letter to my younger self…
from my older, slightly wiser, but still crazy self.
I hope you can find something from it…
Phylicia —-
The world will be presented to you as a set of rules and regulations to follow. There will be a clear path in front of you that seems easy enough to simply follow, to put one foot in front of the other.
Heres the catch- you might not like that path.
You will see many walking that path, with their heads down, simply trudging along.
And it will make it seem like there is no other way.
Here’s the two things I want you to know…
1. There isn’t only one path.
2. You get to choose.
We live our lives like we are looking through a looking glass.
Our scope of reality is small and limited.
Stop and Pause.
Take time to look outside the looking glass.
Know that the world is actually full of possibilities.
And here’s the best part of it all…
You get to decide how you want to live your life.
Question the way you do things.
Question why things are the they are.
Just because is not good enough.
Just because everyone else is doing it is not good enough.
I can promise you living a life that you feel like you settled for will break your heart. You have the opportunity to create the life you want. It will take creative thinking, the willingness to feel discomfort, and at times feeling uncertainty. The pain that you will feel as you carve out your life will create battle scars that you will be proud of. And that pain is far greater to feel than the pain of powerlessness. The pain of feeling like you have no choice.
Now don’t get me wrong. Life will happen to you. There will be things outside of your control.
Your mother will pass away. People will mistreat you. You will fail.
At times it will feel like life is constantly bitch slapping you and telling you to stay your ass in line. Options will feel limited. You won’t be able to see a way out. You will be knocked down.
Even then…
You can choose to sit in that place
Or you can
Crawl
Put your hands out in front of you like someone who just lost their glasses…in the dark
And eventually…
You will find the door knob out
The way you think is your greatest source of power. It can keep you in a cage or it can open you to the horizon.
The illusions in front of you will seem very real.
All of your- can’ts and shouldn’ts
Challenge your truths…
Challenge- ‘things like that don’t happen to people like me’
Challenge the things you want:
Do you truly want that? Or do you want it because you’ve been told you should want that?
Seek the things that make your soul dance with anticipation- you’ll know the feeling when you feel it. But take the time to ask yourself the questions and wait for the response.
Life belongs to the people who are brave enough to dream dreams that are bigger than their current reality.
Have the courage to create your own reality.
Have the discipline to ignore the doubts.
Know yourself deeply and then have the boldness to say this is what I want.
Don’t choose between option A or B- if you don’t like either
Create option C
Just because there is a buffet presented in front of you, doesn’t mean that’s all there is to eat.
Go to the restaurant down the street
You don’t have to talk to that person
You can sit by yourself
You can wear that
You don’t have to answer that question
YOU GET TO CHOOSE!
And its never too late to change your thinking.
To step foot on a new path.
Every new moment is an opportunity for rebirth
Living life in autopilot isn’t as fun as opening your eyes, experiencing all your senses and being intentional about the things you want.
That big impossible crazy dream…
…yeah maybe you won’t get all those things…
Maybe you get 8 out of 10…
But you will realize that there are far more limitations that you create in your mind, than the world will actually impose on you.
Living your life in that small space is claustrophobic
…and you will hate yourself for it
Leave that path
And roam free
In the wild as you were meant to be…