Mindset: Lesson On Quitting

Mindset: Lesson on Quitting

This past week I had one of the parents of a kid that I had worked with tell me that their son wanted to quit playing football. He had some previous injuries and had to miss a lot of time. It can be pretty discouraging watching everyone else getting better and playing in the games while you are sitting on the sidelines. I can especially relate to this with what I have gone through in the previous season. It’s hard when you really want to be out there playing but physically can’t. It’s a humbling experience that makes you take a step back. When I was at Umass my freshman year I pulled my hamstring in my very first college track meet. After not really having a very successful freshman football season, getting hurt in track was pretty devastating for me because I had really wanted to have some success my freshman year. Instead, I had to miss the entire track season and spring football season. I was very discouraged and all I wanted to do was to quit. I did remember something that my Dad told me. Finish what you started. So basically I had three more years to figure it out. I had to finish what I started. Instead go focusing on what I couldn’t do, I made a plan on what I could do. Each day I tried to do a little more than what I did the previous day. Slowly, I started to get healthy again. When I got healthy, I understood that I needed to put in a lot of work if I wanted to see the playing field in the upcoming football season. It was no stranger to me as I have always been looked over and have had to earn what I got. Forcing myself to finish what I started required me to give it everything I had everyday. Now one thing I want to make clear is that I stopped focusing on everything that was going wrong. I stopped focusing on my injury and that I was very far behind in the depth chart. Instead I chose to focus on what I could do each day with what I had. Focusing on what I could do took my focus off what other people were doing. Remember the parent mentioned to me that their son was discouraged about what everyone else was doing instead of what he could do. When you focus on what you can do, what everyone else is doing no longer matters. After 5 months of focusing on myself and what I can do I found myself thrown into the first game of the season. We were playing the Florida Gators. My first play of the game didn’t come until the second quarter. Now sometimes when you are sitting on the sidelines for that you start to lose focus and once again start to focus on what everyone else is doing and not what you can do. But I stayed calm and was focused on my path not someone else’s. I got in the game and on my first play caught a huge pass down the sideline for 55 yards. I finished the game with 3 catches for 95 yards and was the starter the rest of the season. So, I went from wanting to quit to being the starting receiver. When initially I was the 9th-10th receiver on the depth chart. You only get results like that when you focus on what you can do not what everyone else is doing. Now the athlete I was working with on and off came in to see me. During our hour session we focused on what he could do and worked on developing a strong base so he can prevent injury in the future. After the session his parents texted me telling me their son was excited to play again. I really did nothing but showed him to focus on what he can do. That’s the power of focusing on what you can do instead of worrying about everything else. Your journey is your journey and nobody gets to have a say in that. Learn to fall in love with your journey and your growth. Keep Going!